Alabama suit challenges
prison testing and
isolation policies
Class action suit also calls for AIDS education
and access to treatment
By Chris Bull
MONTGOMERY, Ala. — Women
prisoners in Alabama who test positive for
HIV antibodies are forced to wear surgical
masks outside their isolation cells and to
clean telephone receivers with ammonia
after every use. Seropositive male prisoners
must use plastic utensils to eat their meals.
Prisoners who test HIV antibody-positive or
who have AIDS are routinely placed in
isolation wards, denied basic medical care
and access to safer sex information, and
stripped of rights other prisoners receive, ac¬
cording to an April 29 suit filed by the
American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU)
National Prison Project.
In the first class-action challenge to man¬
datory HIV testing and segregation of.
prisoners, five Alabama inmates have asked
the U.S. District Court of Northern
Alabama to order the Alabama Department
of Corrections (DOC) to end “humiliating,
unlawful and unconstitutional practices and
conditions” in “AIDS isolation wards” at
Alabama’s Julia Tutwiler Prison for
Women and at the Limestone Correctional
Facility. A district court judge is expected to
hear the case in the next few months.
The federal lawsuit seeks to overturn the
current Alabama prison policy of forced
testing of all Alabama prisoners entering the
system and the subsequent “segregation” of
inmates whose test results are positive.
The DOC denies that its practices are un¬
fair and claims it treats prisoners with AIDS
the same as prisoners with other “infec¬
tious” diseases. “We know that homosex¬
ual activity does take place. This [isolation]
is a precautionary measure to protect
prisoners from infection,” said spokesper¬
son Debbie Herbert. When asked why the
state refuses to distribute condoms or pro¬
vide safer sex information rather than
isolate prisoners, Herbert replied that
“homosexual activity is illegal. We can’t en¬
courage illegal behavior.”
Although prisoners who test HIV
antibody-positive or who have AIDS are
mistreated throughout the country’s prison
system, conditions are particularly
“egregious” in Alabama, says Nancy
Ortega, a staff lawyer for Southern
Prisoners Defense Committee, which is par¬
ticipating in the suit. “Alabama has one of
the most backward systems in the country.
In some other states, such as New York,
there is at least a pretense of human treat¬
ment. But in Alabama the situation is
devastating,” said Ortega.
Wide range of abuses
The suit seeks to end a wide range of
abuses in Alabama prisons that directly
results from repressive mandatory testing
and isolation policies:
♦HIV antibody-positive prisoners are not
Continued on page 13
Illinois anti-gay murder
leads to homophobic
witch-hunt
Police begin their investigation by looking for gay men
“into leather or satanism ”
By Michael C. Botkin
CARBONDALE, Ill. — Early in April a
young man was abducted from a “cruisy”
area in rural southern Illinois and brutally
mutilated and murdered. Although circum¬
stances surrounding the murder suggest that
the man was killed because he was gay, local
police investigating the case apparently
preferred to assume that he was a heterosex¬
ual victimized by the gay community, and
began what local activists characterize as a
“witch-hunt” of Carbondale’s gay com¬
munity. Although the witch-hunt was
discontinued in early May, when a
heterosexual couple was charged with the
murder, local authorities are still denying
that the case concerns homophobic
violence.
The body of 23-year-old Mike D. Miley
w as found by hikers in the trunk of his car
on April 10, about a week after he was
reported missing. The car was on a little-
used rural road that leads to Crab Orchard
Lake, a cruising area used mostly by
closeted gay men in this conservative region,
and frequently the scene of homophobic
violence. Miley’s body had been mutilated,
apparently before his murder by decapita¬
tion. Five local police agencies began in¬
vestigating the case. Because Miley was last
seen alive leaving Two Hearts, Carbondale’s
only gay bar, police began questioning
members of the local gay community.
“Police officers would march into the
workplace of one of their ‘suspects,’ flash
their badges, loudly announce they were in¬
vestigating the murder, and pull the guy out¬
side for questioning,” said “Kevin,” a staff
member of the local gay hotline (the names
of all the gay activists in this article have
been changed). “In one instance they told a
guy what his sexual habits were, and in
Continued on page 1 5
Burroughs Wellcome
boycott spreads
nationwide
The AIDS Action Pledge is spearheading efforts to
pressure the company with exclusive rights to AZT, the
only FDA-approved drug treatment for AIDS
By Elizabeth Pincus
SAN FRANCISCO — AIDS activists
nationwide are calling for a boycott of
some products made by Burroughs
Wellcome pharmaceuticals, the company
that manufactures AZT. The boycott was
sparked last February by San Francisco’s
AIDS Action Pledge following a demonstra¬
tion by the group at the western distribution
center of Burroughs Wellcome in Burl¬
ingame, Calif, (see GCN, Vol. 15, No. 28).
By maintaining pressure on the company,
AIDS activists hope to force Burroughs
Wellcome to disclose its costs and profits
and reveal the extent of profiteering involv¬
ed in the sale of AZT.
Currently, AZT is the only drug federally
licensed in the U.S. for the treatment of
AIDS. Burroughs Wellcome has exclusive
rights to the product, which costs be¬
tween $8-12,000 yearly per person
AZT has proven to cause highly toxic side
effects in many people with AIDS (PWAs),
but it remains the only readily available drug
treatment. Still, its exorbitant price puts it
beyond the reach of many people and puts
enormous strain on already financially-
strapped PWAs.
The AIDS Action Pledge asks boycotters
to stop buying over-the-counter products
made by Burroughs Wellcome: Neosporin,
Sudafed, Actifed, Polysporin, Actidil,
Borofax, Empirin aspirin, Fedrazil and
Marezine. A Pledge spokesperson explained
that all of these products are cold medicines
or anti-bacterial sprays and ointments that
are available in comparable form from other
companies. AZT itself is not being boycot¬
ted.
“We are using a boycott to call for a
public investigation into Burroughs
Wellcome,” said Jim Denison of the AIDS
Action Pledge. “We want to pressure them
into opening up their books on AZT. It’s
criminal that people are making such profits
over a health crisis.”
The boycott is also intended to force Bur¬
roughs Wellcome into responding to other
demands. These include a complete and un¬
biased report on the effectiveness of AZT, a
list of companies that have applied to Bur¬
roughs Wellcome for use of AZT in clinical
trials, and an explanatin for why the com¬
pany fails to consider other experimental
drugs or test AZT in combination with other
treatments.
“AZT is definitely not the only treat¬
ment, but Burroughs Wellcome is acting like
it is,” Denison said. “They need to justify
why they’re not trying other drugs, or other
combinations of drugs, and why they’re
charging so much money for AZT. [I think]
Burroughs Wellcome realizes AZT has a lot
of problems, and they’re capitalizing on its
short market value.”
Burroughs Wellcome spokesperson
Kathy Bartlett told GCN that the company
is aware of the boycott and has been trying
to communicate “as best we can” the ra¬
tionale for AZT’s high price. “AZT is an
unusually expensive drug to produce,”
Bartlett said, “because of the extensive
studies that have been done to determine its
effectiveness, and because it was developed
in such a short time before the production
process could be refined. We are continuing
to do lots of research on AZT — more than
40 clinical trials in the U.S. involving over
Continued on page 1 5
Ouiet
NEWSNOTES
Quote of the week
“I have the deep concern after reading
this resolution that we as Southern Baptists
are becoming so obsessed with condemning
sins we have forgotten persons.”
— Kathleen Armstrong, the only
speaker at the recent Southern Baptist Con¬
vention in San Antonio, Texas to object to a
resolution catling homosexuality “a
manifestation of a depraved nature” and a
‘‘perversion of divine standards. ”
More unfriendly
skies
COPENHAGEN — Scandinavian
Airlines has announced it will start man¬
datory HIV antibody testing for all pilots
applying for jobs. Those testing positive will
be turned down for “safety” reasons, since
“pilots must be 100 percent fit,” according
to the airline.
Scandinavian Airlines currently employs
1400 active pilots, for whom the test will be
voluntary, according to Southern Voice.
□ Lori Kenschaft
HIV antibody
production can take
years
STOCKHOLM — Among the huge
number of scientific reports presented at the
recent international conference on AIDS
was a study of 18 men that documented ex¬
traordinarily long periods between their ex¬
posure to HIV, a virus thought by many to
be a cause of AIDS, and their production of
HIV antibodies. According to the New York
Times, 14 of the men were infected with
HIV more than a year before developing an¬
tibodies; two of them took three years or
more to develop antibodies.
The study supports evidence presented
last year by Finnish researchers indicating
that the production of antibodies can take
much longer than the originally accepted
estimate of six months. The new study was
conducted in the U.S. by researchers using
blood samples drawn from gay and bisexual
men involved in a larger study. To find
evidence of HIV in the blood samples the
researchers used a new technique — called a
polymerase chain reaction — which can
detect tiny amounts of the virus and is
thought to be much more sensitive than
previous tests.
Researchers quoted in the Times report
indicated that the small number of men
studied made it difficult to estimate “how
much time usually passes” between HIV in¬
fection and antibody production. The
Times reported that the study is significant
because commonly used screening tests
detect antibodies rather than HIV itself —
possibly leading to erroneous assumptions
that a negative antibody test definitely
means no HIV is present. The Times did not
report whether the researchers had any idea
why antibody production could be delayed
so long.
□ Jennie McKnight
Australian cops
crackdown on
“poofters”
QUEENSLAND, Australia — Former
Gold Coast City Councillor Peter Webber
claims he is responsible for the council’s
decision to employ a security firm to patrol
toilets and parks on the Gold Coast. “I want
to get rid of the poofters,” he told the
Sydney Morning Herald.
Webber, who was defeated in recent local
government elections, said he wants the two
Gold Coast gay social venues closed so that
the “poofs” can be forced out into the
parks where they can be arrested and given
the psychological help they need.
Police harassment of Queensland gay
people is not new. Before the last state elec¬
tion, Fortitude Valley police strip-searched
gay men in the streets, ostensibly looking for
drugs. Young men leaving gay venues were
stopped and stripped naked on the sidewalk.
The practice was stopped by the Minister of
Police after a man in the final stages of
AIDS was strip-searched as he left an AIDS
support group meeting.
More than 70 men arrested in the latest
police crackdown face charges which carry
jail sentences. The Herald claims that most
of these men have been arrested by “police
agents provocateur.” The president of the
Queensland Council of Civil Liberties said
that there appears to be a campaign of
harassment against people who are being
discriminated against for no reason other
than their sexual preference.
□ Kendall Lovett
Delta ads trashed by
feminist wheat-
pasters
SAN FRANCISCO — Women angered
by a recent billboard campaign by Delta
Airlines have altered many of the Bay Area
ads with messages of their own. The altered
ads, which depict a blond woman in a swim¬
suit lounging under the words “Bake ‘Til
Golden Brown,” now include, “Keep your
racist ads off our bodies” and “We want
women’s and lesbian liberation.”
The women, claiming the ad is implicitly
racist and literally depicts a woman as a
piece of meat, do not have the support of
some other folks in the Bay Area. Herb
Modified ad
Caen, a columnist for the San Francisco
Chronicle, wrote of the ad, “...Delta
Airlines is doing something right, and I do
mean the bathing beauty on its billboards.
In answer to pleas from piggy swains, she’s
23-year-old Leslie Hoffman, 34-32-34....
Remember, however, that like all beautiful
women, she is a pain in the neck to
somebody...”
□ Jennie McKnight
Don’t let condoms
sit around
LOS ANGELES — Preliminary findings
from recent research conducted by the Food
and Drug Administration (FDA) show a
sharp increase in the failure rates of con¬
doms. FDA officials say they believe the in¬
crease is due to improper storage conditions
in warehouses, according to the Los Angeles
Times. If the preliminary results are con¬
firmed, the FDA may impose mandatory ex¬
piration dates for condoms.
One batch of Protex Contracept Plus con¬
doms broke or leaked so often (hat the FDA
broke the secrecy codes of tRe research to
issue a recall.
Other condom research conducted by the
FDA revealed that mineral oil may cause
deterioration of the latex rubber in con¬
doms. Mineral oil, a common lubricant, is
used in baby oil and Vaseline. The FDA
reported, however, that condoms made
from lamb membranes were more successful
as barriers to HIV than previously thought.
□ Jennie McKnight
Capitol cops issue
surveillance
statement
BOSTON — Responding to harsh crit¬
icism for conducting undercover sur¬
veillance on lesbian/gay political groups,
the Capitol police have released a written
statement concerning “intelligence”
policies. The regulations, developed by
Chief Dan Skelly and Secretary of Public
Safety Charles Barry, call for officers to
identify themselves if they plan to attend
political meetings. Furthermore, the policy
states, “The Department will not infiltrate
political groups, engage in general practice
of political surveillance or maintain files on
the political views of groups,” according to
the Boston Herald.
As a result of a “Freedom of Informa¬
tion” request by John Reinstein of the
Mass. Civil Liberties Union (MCLU), the
Capitol Police were also requested to release
records concerning past surveillance of
MASS ACT OUT and Gay Political
Alliance (GBL/GPA). The records confirm
an incident on January 13, 1988 during
which a Capitol Police officer was
discovered at a MASS ACT OUT meeting.
In a memo sent to Gov. Michael Dukakis,
Barry said that meeting was the only one at¬
tended by police. However, Skely told the
Boston Herald last month that “three or
four” meetings were attended undercover.
Barry, denying any discrepancies, told the
Herald that earlier reports were inaccurate.
Despite a call for Skelly’s resignation by
lesbian and gay community spokespersons,
the Public Safety Department has no plans
to remove Skelly from his post.
□ Elizabeth Pincus
Get GCN from
Ireland
DUBLIN, Ireland — You’re not reading
the only Gay Community News. The Na¬
tional Gay Federation of Ireland has spon¬
sored the publication of a “new, stylish
tabloid” which will appear monthly under
those familiar initials, GCN.
To subscribe, contact the GCN Editorial
Group, P.O. Box 931, Dublin 4, Ireland.
□ Jennie McKnight
And another new
publication for
dykes
BOSTON, Mass. — A new newsletter for
disabled lesbians and their supporters has
been launched in Boston. The first issue of
Dykes, Disability, and Stuff will be
distributed at women’s festivals, con¬
ferences and other events this summer in
order to publicize the project and solicit the
contributions of disabled dykes from
around the country.
The newsletter aims to include coverage
of upcoming legislation, networking among
women with similar health concerns, and
“how some women find ways to get their ...
special needs met thereby changing or in¬
creasing visibility and accessibility for all of
us.”
Subscriptions to Dykes Disability and
Stuff are sliding scale — $8-20 per year. To
subscribe, send a check payable to
Catherine Lohr, the publisher of the
newsletter, to P.O. Box 6194, Boston, MA
021 14. Braille and tape copies of the premier
issue will be available through the Women’s
Braille Press, P.O. Box 8745, Minneapolis,
MN 55408.
□ Jennie McKnight
New York phone
company denies
les/gay listings
NEW YORK — NYNEX, the telephone
company serving New York State and New
England, refuses to establish a “Gay and
Lesbian Organizations” listing in the New
York City Yellow Pages, according to
Lambda Legal Defense and Education
Fund.
Lambda has filed a discrimination com¬
plaint against NYNEX, on behalf of several
New York gay and lesbian organizations
who tried repeatedly to get the phone com¬
pany to list their services under the special
heading.
Paula Ettelbrick, the Lambda attorney
handling the suit, said “The Yellow Pages
serve as a premier information resource in
any community. Not all gay and lesbian
groups are identifiable by their names. It is
imperative that these organizations have a
means by which both gay and non-gay peo¬
ple who seek their services can reach them.”
□ Jennie McKnight
NEWSNOTES COMPILED BY
JENNIE McKNIGHT
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GAY COMMUNITY NEWS □ JUNE 26-JULY 2, 1988 □ PAGE 2
Community Health Center and the
Brighton-Ailston Mental Health Clinic. The
money, which previously went to the Gay
and Lesbian Counseling Service, was an¬
nounced for bidding this spring at a com¬
munity meeting convened to discuss the gap
in lesbian/gay counseling services in the
Boston area.
Cindy Rizzo, former board member of
the Gay and Lesbian Counseling Service,
said although she has not worked with the
organizers of GLHS she is supportive of
their efforts to address the counseling needs
of the community. “The purpose of the
state contract is to serve [low income
people], so to that extent, what GLHS is doing
seems good,” she said. Rizzo added that she
and Harry Collings, co-chairs of a community
task force concerned about counseling ser¬
vices, are meeting with GLHS founders next
week to discuss the endeavor.
Spokespersons for the Fenway Communi¬
ty Health Center said they were disap¬
pointed at not being awarded the state con¬
tract, but said the Fenway will continue pro¬
viding mental health and substance abuse
counseling to lesbians and gay men. “This
means we will have to rely on our communi¬
ty to help support the services, as we have
done for years,” said Fenway’s Executive
Director Dale Orlando. She noted that the
Fenway Community Services and Counsel¬
ing Department has seen a threefold in¬
crease in requests for assistance since the
Gay and Lesbian Counseling Service closed.
The new agency
GLHS, expected to begin service August
1, will initially focus on the needs of
substance abusers, their friends and loved
ones. Soon thereafter, according to
organizers, GLHS will expand its programs
Continued on page 8
Max Navarre, pioneer of
PWA self-empowerment
movement
ACT UP contingent
attends NY disarmament
rally
NEW YORK — Members of New York’s ACT UP (AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power) demonstrate for
peace and social justice at the June 1 1 “Disarm to Develop” march from the United Nations to Central
Park.
The group organized a “money for AIDS, not for war" contingent that brought several hundred par¬
ticipants to the march from their gathering point on Christopher Street. ACT UP distributed specially-
designed “money for AIDS, not for war” buttons and leaflets.
Calling AIDS “a development issue" which "threatens to devastate the entire African continent," ACT
UP demanded an increase in U.S. aid to Africa and "U.S. cooperation with the World Health Organization
in the fight against AIDS.” According to ACT UP, "U.S. aid could provide universal blood screening for on¬
ly $7 million.... To date the U.S. owes W.H.O. more than $92 million in dues.”
The group also pointed out that “The Pentagon spends more money each day ($821 million) than has
been spent for AIDS research and treatment ($426 million) since the epidemic hit. 98% of the Penatagon's
appropriations for FY 1989 are designated to be spent in FY 1989, yet only 48% of the FY 1989 AIDS
research and education appropriations are designated to be spent in FY 1989."
The march and rally, called to coincide with the U.N.'s Third Special Session on Disarmament, drew over
100,000 people. □ Jeremy Grainger
New les/gay
counseling
agency to
open in
Boston
Gay and Lesbian Health
Services wins state funds
formerly granted to the now-
defunct GLCS
By Elizabeth Pincus
BOSTON — A new counseling service for
lesbians and gay men is slated to open here
this summer. Dubbed the Gay and Lesbian
Health Services, Inc. (GLHS), the agency
will attempt to partially fill a void that has
existed since March when Boston’s Gay and
Lesbian Counseling Service folded. That
venerable community institution, which
closed after 17 years due to financial crisis,
was run by a separate group from those
planning to open the GLHS.
A recently awarded state contract of
$125,000 will enable the new agency to get
started. GLHS won the contract — awarded
by the Public Health Department’s Division
of Alcoholism and Drug Rehabilitation —
over two competing agencies, the Fenway
Rapping against AIDS
Dorchester street youth produce Stop the Madness, a
catchy rap song designed to educate their peers
By Chris Bull
NEW YORK — Max Navarre, editor of
New York’s PWA Coalition Newsline , died
of AIDS on the morning of May 28. Navarre
was 33.
The first person with AIDS (PWAs) to
serve on the board of directors of the Gay
Men’s Health Crisis, Navarre was a pioneer
of the PWA “self-empowerment” move¬
ment, which is credited by many with launch¬
ing New York’s ACT UP and fueling AIDS
activism in the county.
Navarre was instrumental in promoting
the Denver Principles, which demanded an
end to the “victimization” of PWAs and
laid the groundwork for PWA self¬
empowerment. Written by a group of
PWAs at the 1983 second annual AIDS
forum in Denver, the Principles, said
Navarre, insisted that people with AIDS
“have the right and the responsibility active¬
ly to determine their own experience with
AIDS.”
Navarre, through his work with the PWA
Coalition and Newsline, helped revolu¬
tionize doctor-patient relationships by en¬
couraging PWAs to take a leading role in
their treatment. He also challenged the
hegemony the mainstream medical profes¬
sion and the government exercise over
medical knowledge and expertise.
Newsline, which prints announcements of
events, services, clinical trials, treatment in¬
formation, letters and a resource directory,
is a leader in the growing field of PWA jour¬
nalism.
Many PWAs credit Newsline and publica¬
tions like it as well as the self-empowerment
movement with the dramatic increase in life
span for many PWAs. Navarre often said he
hoped to see the day AIDS becomes a
“chronic” rather than a “fatal” disease.
In a recent interview with GCN, Navarre
said the PWA Coalition has given hope to
many PWAs who have little or no connec¬
tion to medical information or to other
PWAs. He said the people who put out
Newsline try hard to reach the many PWAs
living in rural areas, PWAs who are impov¬
erished and those who are in prisons. “We
provide information to people isolated from
everything. It allows PWAs the chance to
share their experiences for other PWAs to
benefit from. There are tons of people out
there who don’t have any link. It is heart¬
breaking to get letters from prisoners who
have nothing — no services or medical care
said Navarre (See GCN Vol. 15, No.40).
Hope was central to Navarre’s
philosophy. In a moving essay titled
“Fighting the Victim Label” published by
MIT press just before his death, Navarre
wrote about the work of the PWA Coali¬
tion. “It takes an enormous amount of per¬
sonal power to sustain hope. And hope is
one of the greatest healers. I know that
sounds simplistic, but I also know too many
people with AIDs living full and productive
lives far longer than they are expected to not
believe in it. The shared trait in those people
Max Navarre
is the belief that they are entitled to live,
work, and function. In short: self¬
empowerment.”
Of course, Navarre told GCN, hope is not
enough. The PWA Coalition, he explained,
is about creating an environment where
hope can flourish. The Coalition organized
support groups for Spanish-speaking
PWAs, for women with AIDS, for people
with ARC and for mothers of PWAs. Week¬
ly PWA lunches and monthly “singles
teas” are also arranged so that people
diagnosed with AIDS or ARC “can meet
with others without having to explain or
clarify their health status.”
The PWA Coalition also developed the
country’s first Community Research In¬
itiative (CRI), which provides PWAs access
Continued on page 15
By Elizabeth Pincus
I’m gonna say this rhyme
Just to let you all know that
This disease is just too
so damn thoughtless.
You bought this if you already
have it!
Have it or not,
Please, stop the madness!
Use a condom if you’re having sex,
Or, Home Boy, don’t have sex.
Use a condom if you’re having sex.
Use a condom!
— excerpt from Stop the Madness, produc¬
ed by the Dorchester Youth Collaborative
BOSTON — Less tame than most AIDS
prevention messages doled out by
bureaucrats and health educators, the rap
song Stop the Madness aims for a hard-to-
reach group — teenagers on the street. This
project is one of a growing number of pro¬
grams designed to educate high-risk groups
young people in high risk groups about
AIDS. Some are oriented toward gay
youth, and many are conceived and or¬
chestrated by adults.
Stop the Madness has a unique claim to
pride: the song was written and produced by
a group of teenagers, most of whom are
Black and Latino youth with little ex¬
perience in writing or performing music.
The mostly heterosexual group wrote lyrics
directly designed to reach out to thair peers,
teenagers at high risk for AIDS who may
otherwise be missing AIDS prevention
materials.
Their efforts have resulted in a 24-track
professional recording of the seven-verse rap
tune. Stop the Madness, both English and
Spanish versions, will soon be ready for
broadcast on alternative and college radio
stations throughout the greater Boston area.
The recording will also be made available
for play at youth shelters, housing projects
and summer festivals, and the producers
hope to attract commercial backing.
Unlike public service songs released and
financed by pop celebrities, Stop the
Madness is a raw, scrappy product that ad¬
dresses AIDS — and fear — in accessible
street jargon. Some critics of the song
charge that its lyrics are overly moralistic,
and fail to offer a sex-positive or gay¬
positive message. Adult advisors who work¬
ed with the teen producers said they felt the
youth were using slang appropriately. They
said the teenagers strove to write a hard¬
hitting song that would appeal to street
youth, gay or straight, who may not have
been reached by AIDS educators.
“The only way for the kids to do it was to
communicate in their own language,” said
Mike Kozu, a youth advocate who is helping
promote Stop the Madness. “It’s important
to get out the message about AIDS in as
many ways as possible.”
It shows no mercy
Always wantin’ to kill
From the moment of joy
That you needed at will.
Just think of all the things
That you did to yourself:
Unprotecting your body and
Unprotecting your health!
—Chorus #1 of Stop the Madness
The teenagers who produced Stop the
Madness are involved with the Center for
Urban Education, a program under the
auspices of the Dorchester Youth Col¬
laborative (DYC). A community-based,
multi-services center funded by the United
Way as well as state and city monies, DYC
provides programs for poor and disenfran¬
chised teenagers, ranging from recreation to
health care to crisis intervention. DYC’s
Center for Urban Education, directed by
Emmett Folgert, is geared toward youth in¬
terested in performance, including rapping,
choreography and graffiti art. Folgert and
other adult advisers encourage the teens to
work on public service programs. For exam-
Continued on page 8
GAY COMMUNITY NEWS □ JUNE 26-JULY 2, 1988 □ PAGE 3
COMMUNITY VOICES
GCN Membership
Meeting
Tuesday, June 21 — 6:30pm
We'll be talking about the AIDS Coordinator,
Hiring Policy, Personnel Policy, and story ideas.
Thank you
GCN thanks the Brattle Theater, Marianne Lam-
pke, and Frameline for last week's benefit, The
AIDS Film Project.
Also, a belated thank you to the Boston Food
Coop and Jim Gluck for our Pride fruit juice.
We couldn't make it without you!
GCN welcomes all letters to the editor ex¬
cept personal attacks. Carbon copies of let¬
ters sent elsewhere are printed on a space-
available basis. The opinions expressed here
are those of the author and are not intended
to represent the views of the GCN member¬
ship. Letters must be TYPED, DOUBLE¬
SPACED AND NO LONGER THAN THREE
PAGES. Send to: Community Voices, GCN,
62 Berkeley Street, Boston, MA 02116.
Arbitrary and arrogant
aerosolized pentamidine
policies
Dear GCN:
ACT UP/Boston has been actively engag¬
ed in monitoring the availability of, and ad¬
vocating for the general use of, aerosolized
pentamidine (AP), both for the treatment
and prophylaxis of pneumocystis carinii
pneumonia (PCP). Because of these in¬
terests, ACT UP feels compelled to respond
to the excellent article by Jennifer McKnight
and Lori Kenschaft which appeared in the
GCN edition of June 12-18.
The necessity of studies to determine op¬
timal dosage levels and frequency schedules
of AP is indisputable. However, subjects in
these experiments should not be confused
with patients receiving treatment. People
With AIDS (PWAs) involved in these pro¬
tocols should know the distinction. The doc¬
tor certainly understands this difference; the
life of the PWA might well depend on
him/her understanding these differences.
The study being administered by Ruth
Fisk (PCP plus two study) and her comments
as quoted by Kenschaft/McKnight reflect a
national problem. Investigators are con¬
tinually baffled as to why experimental pro¬
tocols are so slow to accrue subjects and why
they are so habitually under-enrolled. It is
the hope of ACT UP/BOSTON that Ms.
Fisk is correct and that the inclusion/exlcu-
sion criteria of the PCP plus two study are not
too strict, but with the recent history as our
guide we anticipate either another under¬
enrolled study or the necessity of revision of
the inclusion/exclusion criteria.
When Jeff Barmeyer (Chair, PWA Coali¬
tion/Boston) states that AP is “reasonably
available... the real battle is over” he reveals
an even greater problem than the incorrect¬
ness of his statement. PWAs in the Boston
area are encouraged by their doctors and
others to keep information to themselves
and not to confide to others that AP treat¬
ment might be available. Thus it comes as no
surprise that, until Jeff’s statement ap¬
peared in print, other PWAs had not con¬
fided in him their ability or inability to
receive this treatment.
It is quite impossible to understand the
quoted statement from Laurie Novick
(Boston’s AIDS Action Committee Patient
Advocate Coordinator). ACT UP also
knows of doctors who have provided AP
(for treatment, not prophylaxis) in hospital
settings outside the realm of the study. We
also know of patients, similar in clinical
status, in these same hospital settings who
have not been provided with AP. It is clear
that doctors are providing treatment to peo¬
ple not based on medical criteria, but upon
their own personal choice that excludes
some or many. ACT UP/BOSTON does not
label such decisions and behavior as com¬
passionate. Rather, we label them as ar¬
bitrary, capricious and arrogant. The use of
AP in a “compassionate use” situation is to
be applauded. However, when the system
does not provide for “compassionate use”
whenever appropriate, then the system
becomes murderous. Laurie Novick’s state¬
ment that she did not know of anyone who
had been excluded from the studies of AP
reflects a total lack of knowledge of the real
situation, and that seems very strange for a
person in her responsible position.
It is ironic that the Harvard Community
Health Plan (HCHP), which frequently
advertises itself as a plan concerned with
preventive health care because prevention is
more cost effective, provides but refuses to
pay for AP prophylaxis.
Between the AIDS Action Committee’s
dissemination of incorrect information
about the availability of AP and HCHP’s
refusal to pay for AP prophylaxis, one
begins to wonder if the effects of the
Reagan/Bush administration are not more
widespread than previously thought.
ACT UP! FIGHT BACK! FIGHT AIDS!
Steven Busby
for ACT UP/BOSTON
Boston, Mass.
PWAs unable to get
aerosolized pentamidine
Dear GCN:
Good article on aerosolized pentamidine
and its very limited availability and high cost
to people with AIDS. Even since I was inter¬
viewed for the article, I have been contacted
by PWAs who are unable to enroll in the
Massachusetts protocols. The protocols ex¬
clude (1) people with Kaposi Sarcoma, (2)
people with opportunistic infections other
than pneumocystis pneumonia, (3) ARC pa¬
tients, (4) HIV positive individuals with fall¬
ing T Cell counts, and (5) PWAs taking cer¬
tain experimental drugs or holistic
treatments. These people are at high risk for
developing pneumocystis but are still denied
access to protocols.
Cruel it is when this promising prophylac¬
tic to prevent pneumocystis is withheld until
a person at high risk has already suffered a
bout. This deadly protozoan is the most
common killer of PWAs and has a mortality
rate of 20-30% on the first bout. Sur¬
vivors have a diminished lung capacity with
which to fight a second bout.
These protocol terms would not have
done my late lover any good — he died from
his first bout of pneumocystis.
Jeff Barmeyer
Chairman
Boston People With AIDS Coalition
Avoid identifying with the war
machine
Dear GCN:
I was appalled to hear a statistic quoted by
one of the speakers at last week’s otherwise
excellent Lesbian and Gay Pride Rally. Ac¬
cording to this speaker, the number of peo¬
ple who have died from AIDS will very soon
surpass the figure for “people who died in
the Vietnam War.”
As much as we would like to emphasize
the severity of the present health crisis, we
must be careful to avoid the narrow and
reactionary mindset of mainstream straight
Amerika. In their version of the Vietnam
War, the only “people” who have suffered
are shell-shocked Amerikan veterans,
families of MIAs and perhaps a few Amer-
asian offspring of US soldiers awaiting their
rescue in the next Stallone sequel. A great
number of Vietnamese, Laotians and Cam¬
bodians perished as a result of the Amerikan
invasion of their societies and many con¬
tinue to die today from the ecological
destruction of their environment (remember
Agent Orange) and from unexploded ord¬
nance in their rice fields. These casualties of
the war are insignificant, not really human,
and therefore they can be forgotten.
Those who wield power and aggression
identify instinctively with one another.
Hence Reagan was understandably moved
to pay tribute to the “heroes” at Bitburg.
Note also how the mainstream US media
always speak of Afghanistan as Russia’s
Vietnam — their identification is clearly
with the Russians. We often learn more
about Russian casualty figures than about
the Afghani victims of Russian aggression.
Gay and lesbian people however must
avoid identifying with the stokers and
builders of the Amerikan War Machine.
Like their Vietnamese victims, our lives are
considered expendable by them, our deaths
insignificant. Racism and homophobia are
integral components of their PR package to
sell a Re-armed and Resurgent Amerika. We
number among their intended victims; to
PAGE 4 □ JUNE 26-JULY 2, 1988 □ GAY COMMUNITY NEWS
Gay Community News is produced by a collective dedicated to providing coverage of events and news in the interest of
gay and lesbian liberation. The collective consists of a paid staff of eleven, a general membership of volunteers, and a board
of directors elected by the membership.
Opinions reflected in “editorials" represent the views of the paid staff collective. Signed letters and columns represent the
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The GCN Collective in alphabetical order by primary title/function ('indicates member of paid staff collective):
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ADVISORY COMMITTEE ON AIDS
Michael Bronksi, Linda Burnett, Ann Collins, Nancy De
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Poggi, Marc Stein
ANTI-RACISM COMMITTEE
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Gottlieb
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Art Director: Liz Galst*
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COMPUTER COMMITTEE
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COORDINATING EDITOR
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DISTRIBUTION
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FEATURES DEPARTMENT
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Tilchen, Tim Walton
INDEXER
Charles Ash
NEWS DEPARTMENT
Editrix: Jennie McKnight'
Local Reporter: Elizabeth Pincus’
Staff Writer: Chris Bull'
Staff: Michael Botkin, Scott Brookie, Betsy Brown,
Joanne Brown, Art Cohen, Nancy DeLuca, Jim
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OFFICE MANAGER/PRISONER PROJECT
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PHOTOGRAPHERS
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Humphries, Patsy Lynch, Debbie Rich, RINK, Ellen Shub,
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PROMOTIONS DEPARTMENT
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TYPOGRAPHY DEPARTMENT
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Lustig, Chris Madsen, Pam Mitchell, Tim Walton, Nancy
Wechsler
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SPEAKING OUT
survive we have to avoid their ideological
minefields, to see through their distortions
and half-truths. Whether the issue is AIDS,
Vietnam or Central America, maintaining a
critical and independent perspective is vital
to our continued existence as gay men and
lesbians.
S.H. Chua
Alliance of Mass. Asian
_ Lesbians and Gay Men
Boston, Mass.
Embarrassed for GCN’s AIDS
apologia
Dear GCN:
I was taken aback and embarrassed for
you on reading the AIDS apologia. There
was no need for it. You have always covered
the subject in a news-related way, as you
should, being a newspaper after all and not a
branch of the New England Journal of
Medicine. The tendency to want to subsume
everything about us, our community, our
styles, our politics under the AIDS agenda is
entirely wrong. Other work must go on too,
and that includes doing your job as
reporters of the gay community.
Innumerable other agencies do a better
job of AIDS information disemmination.
That’s their job.
How about some more on the injustices of
the criminal/penal system? Your fine
Prisoner Project must have much informa¬
tion gathered on the subject.
It’s really nice to be able to celebrate your
many years of publication with you.
Sincerely,
Vincent J. Luti
Westport, Mass.
HIV positive and afraid to tell
Dear GCN:
I would like to share something with you,
the readers of GCN. I was recently released
from the hospital and returned back to the
‘Protective Custody’ unit here at Elmira.
When I returned my lover Charlie was there
waiting.
I’m HIV positive and wanted to tell him
but was afraid of losing him because he
might not understand. I spoke to a very dear
friend and he convinced me that I should
talk about it. So I told Charlie and cryed
because i just knew I was going to lose him.
But did 1 ever get a big surprise. Charlie
looked into my eyes and reached out to me
and said he wasn’t going to lose me and I’m
still his baby and we’ll work it out.
Mike, I cryed like a baby because my lover
said he would take care of me. A gay
prisoner really has it hard in here but with a
lover like Charlie you can make it. I wanted
to share this with you to help others be open,
because it’s hard to hide it, and it wears you
and the relationship down.
Thank you for caring for us gays in
prison.
We love you,
Tim (Terri) Manus
Elmira, N.Y.
Relentless, reckless inac¬
curacies
Dear GCN:
Charles Shively’s review (GCN Dec.
27-Jan. 9) of Randy Shilts’s book And the
Band Played On, is riddled with serious er¬
rors. Shively repeatedly attributes to Shilts
objectionable views that Shilts doesn’t in
fact express, and that don’t follow from
anything that Shilts says; often they are just
the opposite of Shilts’s views. Shively ra¬
tionalizes the behavior of those who know¬
ingly infect others with the AIDS virus. And
to make Shilts seem unduly cautious, Shive¬
ly misrepresents medical data concerning
safe sex practices. Here are some details.
Shively accuses Shilts of saying “that
queers themselves are to blame” for having
AIDS and of arguing “that some (if not
most queers) are irresponsible and should be
locked up and punished for the disease.” In
fact, Shilts says no such thing, and Shively
cites no supporting quotes. What Shilts ac¬
tually says is that “just about anything done
to fight AIDS for many years — whether in
AIDS education or in lobbying for research
— had come solely from the gay communi¬
ty” (p. 588).
To illustrate the need for better AIDS
education, Shilts describes the plight of a
Hispanic man who had never heard of AIDS
until being diagnosed with it (p. 379).
Shively somehow thinks that this anecdote
criticizes the man’s “ignorance” and that it
portrays him as a “bad gay,” in contrast
with respectable, middle-class “good gays.”
In fact, Shilts never draws such a distinc¬
tion; but Shivley says Shilts does, again
without citing supporting passages, except
for the misinterpreted anecdote.
Shively says falsely that Shilts “accepts
the marketplace view of science: more
money, more competition, more miracles.”
In reality, Shilts documents the harm caused
by competition among AIDS researchers,
and complains that some scientists “com¬
peted rather than collaborated in interna¬
tional research efforts, and so diverted at¬
tention and energy away from the central
struggle against the disease itself” (p. xxii).
Shilts writes about Gaetan Dugas, one of
the first people in the US to contract AIDS.
Disturbingly, even after Dugas was inform¬
ed of the probable nature of AIDS transmis¬
sion, he continued to have high-risk sex
without first informing his partners of his
condition. Although Shilts is not explicitly
judgmental of Dugas, Shively objects to
the implied criticism of Dugas’s conduct.
Shiveley offers a series of arguments in
Dugas’s “defense.” These range from the
stupefying (“not everyone Dugas had sex
with has contracted AIDS”) to the horrific:
“Even if Shilts’s account of Dugas were in
part true, that [Dugas] felt resentment
against his rich tricks and was happy to take
revenge upon them, who can blame such
justice? Isn’t it understandable that the op¬
pressed would respond ‘irrationally’ inside
the injustices of capitalism?”
To begin with, this is not Shilts’s account
of Dugas. Dugas may have been indifferent
to his partners’ health, but Shilts does not
propose that Dugas actually sought to harm
them. Incredibly, Shively intends his
theory as a sympathetic interpretation of
Dugas’s behavior: according to Shively’s
rhetorical questions, deliberately infecting
“rich” tricks is blameless, just, understan¬
dable and only seemingly irrational. Not
since Bernardine Dohrn’s endorsement of
the Manson murders has the Left’s usually
life-affirming stance been so distorted into
randomly aimed hatred.
And despite Shively’s kill-the-rich fer¬
vor, there is less than no reason to believe his
presumption that Dugas’s bath-house tricks
were wealthy. Moreover, Dugas himself was
a well-to-do flight attendant. And Shilts,
but not Shively, criticizes many (genuinely
wealthy) bath-house owners for making
money by encouraging lethal behavior
among their customers.
But Shively is not at his worst until he
castigates Shilts for being “misguided about
fistfucking and rimming causing AIDS.”
Citing a report by the San Francisco Men’s
Health Study in the Journal of the American
Medical Association (January 16, 1987),
Shively says “they eliminated finger or fist
fucking and rimming” as risk factors in
AIDS transmission. In fact, the report says
nothing of the kind.
First of all, the report says nothing at all
about rimming. Secondly, the study does
not address whether fistfucking transmits
the AIDS virus, but only whether it
enhances the risk of transmission for those
who practice unprotected receptive anal sex.
Thirdly, the authors warn that, because
their sample was not large enough, practices
that “were not implicated” by the study
nonetheless “could not be eliminated” as
AIDS risks — just the opposite of the con¬
clusion that Shively falsely attributes to
them.
We would rather criticize reactionaries
and homophobes than members of our own
community. But Shively’s relentless,
reckless inaccuracy, culminating in poten¬
tially life-threatening misinformation, must
not be met with silence. No community can
remain progressive, caring, and well-
informed if it allows gross travesties of fact
and of fairness to pass without challenge.
Sincerely,
Gary L. Drescher
James R. Davis
Somerville, Mass.
“Speaking Out” is part of our continuing ef¬
fort to provide a true forum of opinion for
the community. We encourage you to send
your ideas, feelings and comments to us, and
to respond to ideas expressed in this space.
The opinions expressed are those of the
author and are not intended to represent the
views of the GCN membership. Submissions
must be TYPED, DOUBLE-SPACED, AND
NO LONGER THAN FIVE PAGES. Send to:
Speaking Out, GCN, 62 Berkeley St.,
Boston, MA 02116.
The lesbian and gay
movement, the left and
the Worker’s
By Shelley Ettinger
Two recent “Speaking Out” commen¬
taries on the left and its failures in regard to
the lesbian and gay liberation movement —
just the latest of such critiques — call for
another view. As a lesbian AIDS activist and
leftist, I’d like to present one.
The complaints about “the left” in the
May 8-14 issue exclude any reference to the
Workers World Party (WWP) and Workers
World weekly newspaper, both of which
recognized the crucial importance of the
AIDS crisis from the start and have con¬
sistently taken part in, supported and
reported on the AIDS movement ever since.
I have written many of the articles about
the AIDS struggle for Workers World
newspaper. As a lesbian who’s been out of
the closet and in the struggle for 15 years —
just the last seven in WWP — I can testify
that I have not encountered the kind of sub¬
tle or overt homophobia, sex-phobia,
heterosexism, condescension or attempts to
minimize or compartmentalize the issue of
lesbian and gay liberation or AIDS that
many seem to assume is the norm on the left.
I am on the editorial staff of Workers
World, and I know that the central concern
about AIDS coverage is not just how to
report the news but how to solidarize with
and strengthen the struggle. The lesbian and
gay caucus provides the political guidance
on this. The proof, of course, is in the pages
of the paper. I don’t think there’s been a
week without an article or editorial on AIDS
in the last few years. I believe the coverage
has been consistently sensitive and informed
It’s capitalism that's
murdering people with AIDS
by spending tax money on
Star Wars and pumping up
drug company profits instead
of finding a cure and funding
treatment and care.
on aspects ranging from mandatory HIV
testing and confidentiality to racism and
homophobia. WWP has also published a
pamphlet, in English and Spanish, titled
Understanding AIDS, which is a compila¬
tion of some of these articles.
AIDS is addressed as a primary issue for
the working class movement at every event
WWP sponsors or plays a major role in. The
All Peoples Congress (APC), a mass
organization in which WWP members are
very active, also takes part in the struggle.
(For example, APC provided sound at some
of the recent New York City AIDS Action
Week events, printed leaflets, and did a
5,000-piece mailing.) Maybe even more im¬
portantly, APC brings the issue of AIDS to
the rest of the- movement, working hard to
build solidarity and unity and show how this
must be taken up by the whole working
class. Two recent examples were the March
26 conference, “Uniting Against Racism”
at Hunter College, sponsored by the APC’s
youth affiliate, at which there was a
workshop on AIDS And Racism; and a
January 27 community meeting against
racism called by APC trade unionists, at
which an ACT UP leader was a featured
speaker. The same has been true about the
lesbian and gay struggle since the early
1970s. And of course there’s a big WWP
contingent every year at the Lesbian and
Gay Pride Day marches, as there was on Oc¬
tober 1 1 in Washington, D.C.
So it is just plain wrong to say, as a recent
“Speaking Out” writer did, that backward¬
ness on AIDS and discomfort with lesbian
and gay liberation and issues of sexual
freedom are “views held across the board by
straight leftists.”
In fact, there has been progess elsewhere
on the left, and I think Workers World can
take a lot of the credit for that. The
100,000-strong May 3, 1981 march on the
Pentagon, in which WWP played a major
role, was the first-ever large national anti¬
war rally to have a speaker from the gay
movement. That was really when the rest of
World Party
the left and the anti-war movement began to
recognize and include the lesbian and gay
struggle on the agenda. Since then, other im¬
portant events, like last year’s April 25 anti¬
war march, have had lesbian and gay
speakers. The labor movement, too, is final¬
ly starting to address the demands of lesbian
and gay workers as well as AIDS-related
issues.
Why, then, is Radical America held up as
the only exception to the supposed rule of
left homophobia? Why say “real leftists
wouldn’t be interested” in our struggle?
Anyone who’s attended ACT UP/New
York’s regular Monday night meetings over
the last year had plenty of opportunities to
pick up reprints of Workers World articles
on AIDS and the AIDS movement, which
my comrades and I leave on the front table
most weeks. Anyone who’s been to an AIDS
demontration has seen us — lesbian, gay,
and straight WWP members — with ban¬
ners, signs, and our newspaper, marching,
chanting, and getting arrested. So why insist
there’s nobody out there on the left who’s
not homophobic or AIDS-backward?
I have to wonder whether the omission
has something to do with the anti¬
communism that unfortunately still per¬
vades our community. Some of that anti¬
communism is in reaction to the very real
failure of much — not all — of the left to
understand and support the lesbian and gay
liberation movement over the years. I felt
that way myself for a long time. But some of
it, I think, is just plain garden-variety
anti-communism masquerading as
righteousness, the same anti-communism
the ruling class relies on to keep oppressed
people from uniting in the class struggle.
But socialism is the only solution — not
only to lesbian and gay oppression and
AIDS, but to racism, war, homelessness and
hunger — and the left is the place for les¬
bians and gay men who want to fight and
build a new society. It’s capitalism that’s
murdering people with AIDS by spending
tax money on Star Wars and pumping up
drug company profits instead of finding a
cure and funding treatment and care. It’s
big business that creates anti-gay bigotry,
discrimination and homophobia in order to
keep people divided. Our interests as les¬
bians and gay men are the same as those of
all other workers and oppressed people —
but none of us can win our liberation alone.
When we all find a way to unite in militant
struggle, we can lay the basis to build the
kind of world where everyone can live and
love freely. That’s what we communists call
a class analysis, and it’s the basis of the
Workers World Party.
One last note. Some people seem to see
“the left” as, by definition, a bunch of
straight white men, which apparently ac¬
counts for its shortcomings. That’s an insult
to the — and there are lots, in fact, we are
probably a majority — lesbians, gay men,
Third World people and straight women
who devote our lives to the struggle.
Anybody who fantasizes that we brew the
coffee while the straight white men theorize
and speechify has certainly never been
around the Workers World Party
We communists, too, like everybody else,
have been personally touched by the AIDS
crisis. In Workers World, we recently lost
two very dear comrades, both gay men, one
Black and one white, who died this past
winter. Both of them — Marshall Yates and
Bill Haislip — were very much of the com¬
munity, and both were respected and loved
in our party. Marshall wrote for and Bill was
the editorial cartoonist for Workers World
newspaper. Both of them also, to their dying
day, were committed to the struggle for
socialism. At their memorial meetings, we
promised to keep up that struggle, of which
both the lesbian and gay and AIDS
movements are integral parts. That is what
we in the Workers World Party — all of us,
Black, Latino, Asian, Native, Arab and
white, women and men, lesbian, gay and
straight — continue to do.
Shelley Ettinger is active in the lesb:m and
gay, progressive and trade union
movements. She is a co-founder of the Les¬
bian and Gay Labor Network.
GAY COMMUNITY NEWS □ JUNE 26-JULY 2, 1988 □ PAGE 5
: -
THERE ARE WOMEN
POLITICAL PRISONERS
INTHEU.S.
These are three of the five women who are currently incar¬
cerated at the Lexington Control Unit located in Lexington,
Kentucky. The other two women are Debra Brown and Sylvia
Brown. This unit opened in October, 1986 to house women politi¬
cal prisoners and prisoners of war. It is a sixteen-cell unit in the
basement of the Lexington Federal Prison for women. Last Fall,
in response to national and international pressure, the Federal
Bureau of Prisons revealed their plans to close the Lexington
Control Unit and open a larger version in Marianna, Florida. We
protest all control units and demand the release of all the women
inside the High Security Unit into general prison population. We
demand that plans for Marianna be halted!
The three political prisoners and Sylvia Brown have filed a major
lawsuit in Washington, D.C., charging that the Lexington Control
Unit is an affront to constitutional and human rights and is in
violation of international law regarding the humane treatment
of prisoners.
The control unit is appropriately named because its goal is to
control every detail of the women’s lives. Confined to a small area
23 hours a day, isolated from friends, family and other prisoners,
prison authorities hope to break the women’s resistance. Enforc¬
ing dependency and passivity, each woman is required to ask the
guards for permission to move from one room to another. They
must ask the guards for all hygienic items and even for a cup of
coffee or soda. They are randomly strip-searched after using the
yard despite the fact that a guard and video camera watch them
constantly. Because of the lack of fresh air, the intense light, the
constant harassment, and the severe isolation, the health of the
women is deteriorating.
Captured in the Puerto Rican anti-colonial struggle, Alejandrina
Torres is a Prisoner of War. Alejandrina is a mother and grand¬
mother. Relying on International Law, she rejects U.S. jurisdic¬
tion over her case. Alejandrina is a member of the First Congre¬
gational Church in Chicago and a founding member of the Puerto
STOP PSYCHOLOGICAL TORTURE!
The movement to shut down all control units is supported by the following
members of the women’s, lesbian, and gay communities:
Silvia
Alejandrina
Susan
(Organizations listed are San Francisco Bay Area based
unless otherwise noted.)
Hoherta Achtenberg, Director of Lesbian Bights
Project
Jan Adams of lesbian Contradiction
AIDS Action Pledge
Ellen Barry, Legal Services for Women Prisoners with
Child ren
Bay Area Black Women’s Health Project
Bay Area Lesbians of (ktlor
Bay side Legal Advocates
Blazing Redheads, Women’s Bund
Rita D. Brown. Former Political Prisoner
Suzana (Cabanas, Poet
Wendy Cadden. Artist
Prof. Chinosole. Women Studies
Community United Against Violence
DAGMAR (Dykes and Gay Men Against Repression),
Chicago
Angela Dav is, Co-Chair of the National Alliance Against
Racism and Repression
Fat Lip Readers Theatre
Groundswell, Seattle
Rebecca Gordon of Lesbian Contradiction
Irish W omen's Study Group, New York City
Jewish lesbian Writers Group
Tanaquil Jones. Anti-Apartheid Activist
LAGAI (Lesbian and Gays Against Intervention)
lz*sbian Environmentally III Support Committee
Ix-sbian Rights Project
Rosita Libre de Marau l^inda. Poet
Elizabeth McAllister, Peace Activist
Holly Near, Singer, Political Activist
Out of Control
Radical Women
Revolting Lesbians
Ron Sable, M.D.. Gay Activist
Sonia Sanchez. Poet
Susan Saxe, Former Political Prisoner
Semitic Women Take Action. Seattle
Gail T. Smith, Chicago Legal Aid to Incarcerated
Mothers
Sistah Boom. Women’s Percussion Ensemble
So mo- llermanas
Sw ing shift. Women Cultural Workers
l S PROS (Prostitutes C-ollretive)
Washington Prisoners F.mil, an.) Friends. Seattle
Jon Wildes. Prisoner Rights Advocate
Women Against Imperialism
Women Prisoners Support Group. Seattle
Merle Woo. Political Activist
W rycrips
Rican Cultural Center which provides high school and adult
classes as well as other community services.
Susan Rosenberg is a 32-year-old North American anti-imperialist
political prisoner. Susan worked for years in solidarity with the
Puerto Rican and Black Independence movements. She is a doc¬
tor of acupuncture and studied in Harlem with the Black Acu¬
puncture Association of North America (BAANA), which was part
of an effort to fight chemical dependencies in Third World
communities. Susan was arrested in 1984 for anti-government
activity and sentenced to 58 years.
Silvia Baraldini is a 40-year-old Italian national anti-imperialist.
She worked for years in solidarity with the Puerto Rican and
Black Independence movements. She was invited to travel to
Zimbabwe soon after its independence and returned to New
York to speak extensively on African Independence. Since 1973
she worked for the defense of Black Liberation Army political
prisoners. Silvia was arrested in 1982 and subsequently convicted
of participating in the escape of Assata Shakur and sentenced to
40 years.
The U.S. government is scared of women’s involvement in revolu¬
tionary movements. As our own numbers increase, the judicial
harassment of women increases. The Lexington Control Unit
exemplifies government intimidation elevated to the level of
psychological torture. It is a more sophisticated development of
the model set by the infamous Marion Federal Penitentiary,
where men prisoners are locked in their cells 23 hours a day. The
women’s control unit at Marianna, Florida, promises more of the
same. Control units are part of a deliberate strategy by the FBI
and the Bureau of Prisons to terrorize people who resist U.S.
aggression — people inside and outside of the prison system. We
feel the government set up the High Security Unit as a test to
prove that the fear of imprisonment under horrendous condi¬
tions will control people’s resistance. But their strategy hasn’t
worked! Join us.
STOP PSYCHOLOGICAL TORTURE !
CLOSE THE CONTROL UNIT!
CLOSE THE CONTROL UNIT!
• Contact the National Campaign to Abolish the Lexington Women’s Control
Unit; invite one of our members to your home or organization to make a
presentation and show a video.
• Break through the isolation by writing the women, or by putting them on your
group’s mailing list. Their addresses:
For now, Susan Rosenberg is at:
#233-412 DC Detention Center
1901 D Street SE
W ashington. DC 20003
Silvia Baraldini (05123-034)
HSU Lexington, Box 2000
Lexington, KY 40511
Debra Brown (93137-024)
HSU Lexington. Box 2000
Lexington. KY 40511
Sylvia Brown (72183-012)
HSU Lexington. Box 2000
larxington. KY 40511
Alejandrina Torres (92152-024)
HSU Lexington, Box 2000
Lexington. KY 40511
• rite a check to help support the campaign (tax-deductible). Make check
payable to IFCO (designated to the Lexington Campaign). Send to: Committee
to Shut Down Lexington Control Unit/Out of Control, Box 30, 3543- 18th Street,
San Francisco CA 94110.
• Voice your protest. Write: Michael Quinlan, Federal Bureau of Prisons, 320 1st
Street NW, Washington, DC 20001.
National Campaign to Abolish the l.exington Women’s Control Unit
294 Atlantic Avenue, Brooklyn, New York 11201 (718) 624-0800
Chirano: Bo, 2»5. 2320 X. Linroln. Chicago. IL t0*U (312) 270-670*
San Francisco: 3543 - 18th Street #17, San Franrisro. CA 941 10 (415) 561-9055
thia ad prepared by (Jul of Control/labor donated
PAGE 6 □ JUNE 26-JULY 2, 1988 □ GAY COMMUNITY NEWS
Richard R. Bankhead, DDS
Paul O. Groipen, DDS
Kirk S. Bankhead, DDS
1259 Hyde Park Ave.
Hyde Park, MA 02136
(617) 364-5500
Mon. -Sat. & evenings
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COMMUNITY
ACCOMMODATIONS
OASIS GUEST HOUSE
22 Edgerly Road
Boston. MA 021 IS
(617) 267-2262
ACUPUNCTURE
RONALD KELTER
Acupuncture Associates of
Cambridge
843 Mass. Ave., Central Sq.
Cambridge. MA 02139
617-491-4410
JAMES F. LEATH. R. Ac.
HARMONY HOLISTIC
HEALTH
699 Somerville Ave.
Somerville. Mass.
Porter Square T
629-9547
ALCOHOUDRUG
TREATMENT
SROFFORD HALL
Route 9A
Spofford. NH 03462
(603) 363-4545
AUDITING/TAXES
LILLIAN GONZALES
Certified Public Accountant
126 State Street
Boston, MA 02109
523- 1060
AUDIO-VISUAL
SAMDPERIL AUDIO-VISUAL
23 Clive St.
Boston. MA 02130
524- 7992
BICYCLES
FERRIS WHEELS
Bicycle Shop
64 South Street
Jamaica Plain. MA 02130
617-522-7082
BOOKSTORES
GLAD DAY BOOKSTORE
673 Boylston Street
Boston, MA 02108
(617) 267-3010
NEW WORDS
A WOMEN'S BOOKSTORE
186 Hampshire Street
Cambridge, MA 02139
876-5310
REDBOOK STORE
Books of Political Struggle.
South Africa. Central America.
Gay & Lesbian literature
92 Green St.
Jamaica Plain, MA 02130
(617) 522-1464
CHIROPRACTORS
DR. RITA L. FIELD
HARMONY HOLISTIC
HEALTH
699 Somerville Av.
Somerville. MA 02143
628-9547
DR. TIMOTHY KNIGHT
1100 Massachusetts Ave.
Arlington. MA 02174
(617) 641-2510
DR DAVID MOULTON
Suite 333
45 Newbury St
Boston. MA 02116
266-8S84
DR. JONATHAN STEIN
375 Harvard Street
Brookline. MA 02146
232-7200
DR. DAVID. STOLER
Chiropractor
SOMA Practitioner
124 Harvard St. No. 3
Brookline. MA 02146
(617) 731-3306
COUNSELING
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Gerald Matison, L.I.C.S.W.
475-6950
insurance accepted
ARADIA COUNSELING FOR
WOMEN
S20 Commonwealth Av.
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Boston, MA 02115
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Boston, MA 02146
739-7860
PATRICIA A. BURKE, LICSW
ADDICTION TREATMENT/
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10 Goodway Road
Jamaica Plain, MA 02130
522-9446
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876-4488
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A feminist psychotherapy
collective
240A Elm St., Davis Square
Somerville. MA 02144
776-9232
MASS BAY COUNSELING
ASSOCIATES
321 Columbus Ave.
Boston. MA 021 16
739-7832
SOUTH END COUNSELING
596 Tremont Street
Boston, MA 02118
(617) 437-9643
TAPESTRY. Inc.
20 Sacramento St.
Cambridge, MA
661-0248
WINGS THERAPY
COLLECTIVE
60 /; Sacramento St.
Cambridge, MA 02138
876-8438
DENTISTRY
DR RICHARD BANKHEAD
DR PAUL GROIPEN
1259 Hyde Park Av.
Hyde Park. MA 02136
364-5500
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790 Boylston Street
Boston, MA 02199
353-1500
DOG TRAINING
FAMILY DOG TRAINING
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Dog Behavior Specialists
Medford. MA
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ELECTROLYSIS
JUDY FEINER
Complimentary consultation
Computer electrology specialist
Central Sq. , Cambridge
497-2019
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12 Mt. Auburn St.
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309 Shawmut Ave.
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HEALTH
BOSTON HEALTH
ASSOCIATES
Holistic Health Referral Service
Psychotherapy, Bodywork,
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266- 8122 M-Th„ 12-7
FENWAY COMMUNITY
HEALTH CENTER
16 Haviland Street
Boston, MA 02115
267- 7573
FEMINIST HEALTH CENTER
OF PORTSMOUTH
232 Court St.
Portsmouth, NH 03801
(603) 436-7588
STD clinic for men and women
Mon. eves.: free anon, HIV
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HOUSEKEEPING
CLEAN UP YOUR ACT
Housekeeping Service
Weekly, bi-weekly, monthly anc
special occasions
776-2271
INSURANCE
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Congress St.
P.O. Box 1762
Boston, Ma. 02I0S
1-800-352-3185
KUNEVICH & LAU
INSURANCE AGENGY
241 Washington St.
Brookline, MA 02146
731-1015
NANCY GREENWOOD
40 Hampshire St.
Lawrence.MA 01840
683 7676
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Lawyers Referral Service
227-7008
M-F 1-5 p.m.
MASSAGE
MIDTOWN HEALTH CLUB
Swedish, Japanese, Esalen
220 Huntington Ave.
(617) 262-1000, x 298
M-Sat., 12-7
MOVERS
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(formerly Boston Trucking)
641-1234
PHOTOGRAPHY
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PO Box 375 McCormack Sea.
Boston, MA 02101
236-0365
PRINTING
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Jamaica Plain, MA 02130
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668 Tremont St.
Boston, MA 02118
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INNOVATIVE MOVES
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726 Centre St.
Jamaica Plain, MA 02130
(617) 522-0020
RELIGIOUS
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131 Cambridge St., near Gov't
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A church of the Lesbian and
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at Center, Roxbury 8 Dudley
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33 Ashcroft St.
Jamaica PL, MA 02130
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TRAVEL
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76 Arlington St.
Boston Park Plaza
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Tomlin and Midler in Big Business
All work, no play
Midler and Tomlin times two, and it's still a bore
Big Business. Directed by Jim Abrahams. Written
by Dori Pierson and Marc Rubel. With Bette
Midler, Lily Tomlin, Fred Ward, Edward Herrman,
Daniel Gerroll, Michele Placido. At the Cheri and
Somerville, Mass. — USA Cinemas.
By Michael Bronski
he very idea of Big Business — Lily
Tomlin and Bette Midler playing two
sets of mismatched twins — conjures
up images of biting satire and comedy light
as a souffle. Well, the satire is almost non¬
existent and the souffle is stuck rather unat¬
tractively to the faces of all involved.
Big Business revolves around high-
powered Sadie Shelton (Bette Midler) and
her mild-mannered sister
1^1 ( Rnsp (Lily Tomlin), who
IMMI own Moramax, a cold-
' ” hearted conglomerate.
Moramax is about to sell off a small com¬
pany — Hollowmade Furniture in West
Virginia — to a strip mining concern. Mean¬
while the other Sadie and Rose come from
down-home to the big city to confront the
wheeler-dealers and save their town.
Everything you think will happen does as
the expected jokes fall into place faster than
their intended laughs stick in your throat.
The problem here is that beyond the
premise of grand farce there is no script, just
a series of formula misunderstandings
without much sense or feeling behind them.
The four characters played by Midler and
Tomlin are so vacant of nuance that they
show us how severely a bad script can limit
even extraordinary stars.
Still, Big Business is not a total disaster.
Midler and Tomlin do manage to scare up a
bunch of laughs — the Divine Miss M dismis¬
sing an alleged bounder with the phrase
“Eurotrash” is close to perfect — but all the
while you are aware of what could, and
should, have been. There is a sweet portrait
of a gay couple — Edward Herrman and
Daniel Gerroll — but even that is unex¬
plored and boring. □
Dykes to Watch Out For
AAAKMC,
SUDDEN
A5UPDEP
TRIP TO
JAN JOAN
FOR HER
SAAND-
TWDTHER 5
FUNERAL
>HAT FU£ MIN6, CLARICE ATTENDS A MtETIMG OF THE ACCESS IBIOT/ COAV4ITTFE ■ PrAO ON
PUT WE OHuy HAVE
ONE MALE INTERPRETER,
An/D HES PiYnJG THE PUN-
ONLY WORKSHOP /'Sen¬
sual, salacious A SAFE ’’
JkJ Iht SAME TWE- SLOT'
GAY COMMUNITY NEWS □ JUNE 26-JULY 2, 1988 □ PAGE 7
GLHS
Continued from page 3
to offer broader mental health care services
to the lesbian and gay community. The
agency plans to accommodate from 200 to
300 outpatient clients. Edward Roche,
GLHS’ clinical administrator, said the agen¬
cy chose substance abuse as a first target
area because the state contract is directed
for such services, and because there is a
tremendous need in Boston for more
recovery counseling for lesbians and gay
men.
“We will offer counseling for individuals
and for groups of all kinds,” Roche said.
“The needs of people dealing with AIDS in
the process of recovery will be an important
focus of [our] services. We’ll have separate
groups for IV drug users, people who are
HIV-positive, women and men, people who
are new to sobriety, and those already in the
recovery process. And we’ll be looking to
expand into the mental health component as
soon as possible.”
Like its predecessor, GLHS plans to pro¬
vide treatment regardless of a client’s ability
to pay. “[We will] develop and maintain
resources sufficient to meet the needs of
those who cannot pay for specialized ser¬
vices,” said Michael Harrington, executive
director of the new agency. “Often, those
who can least afford it are those in the
greatest need.”
Thus far, GLHS has hired three full-time
and two part-time staff members, including
Harrington and Roche, and has begun
assembling a board of directors. Roche
who has worked in community mental
health and organizational management,
said GLHS organizers tried to pull together
a staff and board with extensive experience
in administrative matters as well as counsel¬
ing. The staff includes therapist Marea Mur¬
ray and clinical director Judith Krulewitz,
and the board will consist of members with
varied affiliations to the business and health
care communities. “We want to send a
message that this is an agency for
everyone,” said Harrington, who stressed
GLHS’ commitment to running a multi¬
racial, co-sexual organization. “We also
realize that financial viability is critical to
our long-term success.”
Community outreach, community access
Agency organizers said they hope GLHS
can play a significant role in providing
recovery services for lesbians and gay men
throughout the Greater Boston area. To
facilitate communication in the community,
GLHS has established a liaison job, an un¬
common position for a counseling agency.
“We must be an active participant within
the professional community, the gay and
lesbian community, and the recovery com¬
munity,” said J. Mitchell Finnegan, who
has been selected as the GLHS liaison. “We
have already developed an extensive list of
affiliations with other service providers. We
will continue to reach out to agencies and in¬
dividuals so that persons of color, women,
and youth will be actively served by Gay and
Lesbian Health Services.”
Roche said, “We want to be flexible
about understanding people from their
point of view. For example, a Black gay man
living in Columbia Point [in Dorchester]
clearly has different needs than a person of
color from downtown Boston. How do we
bridge these gaps? A group from Dorchester
suggested we offer programs in their
neighborhood. We will consider such
possibilities.”
Harrington added that GLHS wants to be
an inclusive agency that “provides a place
where people can be safe.” He said, “We
see issues of mental health and substance
abuse along political as well as cultural lines.
We’re dealing with two fatal diseases in our
community: AIDS and substance abuse. We
really see a connection between them and
want to be on the front lines of care and
prevention.”
Roche said that GLHS has been in con¬
tact with people at Boston’s AIDS Action
Committee (AAC). “We’re looking for¬
ward to a profitable, exciting relationship
with AAC,” Roach commented. “A lot of
what we do dovetails with them.”
GLHS has not yet firmed up a lease on a
prospective office site, but expects to settle
on a downtown location soon. According to
Roche, the agency hopes to provide some
community services comparable to those of¬
fered by the Gay and Lesbian Counseling
Service. For example, meeting rooms may
be available for lesbian/gay groups, and
GLHS may also consider providing space
for the currently-defunct lesbian/gay
hotline. (The Fenway Community Health
Center is also currently negotiating with
hotline organizers over space for the
service.)
GLHS hopes to sponsor an open house
prior to beginning services this summer,
though plans for the event are not yet
definite. Organizers said they would like to
throw a drug- and alcohol-free community
dance and party. For further information
about GLHS, call the agency at 723-8336 or
497-5995. □
Rapping
Continued from page 3
pie, youth at the Center have previously pro¬
duced two rap songs, one about sickle cell
anemia and another called Stand Back from
Crack.
“What’s different about us,” Folgert
said, “is that we’re a giant step more con¬
nected to the street than other music
theaters. Our kids like to do this [public ser¬
vice] stuff — they know they can give to kids
similar to themselves.”
According to Folgert, adults at DYC were
stymied when they tried to write lyrics for a
song about AIDS. “The kids did it when we
couldn’t,” he said. “We were really im¬
pressed.”
Folgert added that the teenagers made all
final decisions during the production of
Stop the Madness. He said they discussed
how AIDS is perceived as a gay issue with
adult advisers, though the topic was not
overtly included in the lyrics. Instead,
Folgert explained, the youth tried to convey
the message that AIDS is everyone’s pro¬
blem.
“The lyrics are hard to understand in
places,” Kozu said. “For example, I had to
get the kids to explain ‘taxed’ to me. [Street
lingo for ‘killed.’] And I can see how the
words may be taken as overly cautious. But
we wanted the kids to do this themselves, in
a language that conveyed what they were ex¬
periencing.”
It’s a deadly virus
’Broke out in a rage.
Terrorizing worldwide
We call it “AIDS”!
Received by a needle
or even sex.
Ca...Ca... Caution! It kills!
Give it respect!
Sexual intercourse,
Needle, injection
Leads to AIDS,
Painful infection!
— from Stop the Madness
The songwriters of Stop the Madness are
Todd Maxwell, Tramayne Brown, Tshombe
Core and Bobby Bostic. The music is per¬
formed by Young Nation (Bob Sampson,
Joanne Reed, Mike Harris and Frank Wolf) —
one of several percussion and singing groups
organized through the Center for Urban
Education. The catchy style of the song,
honed after five weeks in the studio, is infec¬
tious and creative. The lyrics are in turn
hopeful, then desperate.
“These kids have an incredible capacity
for understanding tragedy,” Folgert said.
“They can capture its smell and feel.
Everything lines up for them in the wrong
direction in terms of fighting AIDS — the
machismo, the toughness.” Folgert added
that the prevalence of drug use and sexual
activity increases the risk, a L contracting
AIDS for street youth. “But they are trying
to understand. They don’t necessarily know
a lot about AIDS, but they know
hardship.”
Stop the Madness has received support
from other groups in town concerned about
AIDS education and prevention, including
Boston’s AIDS Action Committee (AAC),
church groups and Black, Latino and gay
community organizations. Folgert said that
due to such widespread backing, Stop the
Madness has been granted finishing funds
by the Massachusetts Department of Public
Health. For information about receiving a
recording of Stop the Madness, call the Dor¬
chester Youth Collaborative at (617)
288-1748.
If you want to make things better.
Got to get your life together!
Stop the Madness!
Judges, lawyers, politicians.
They can’t change this world condition.
Stop the Madness!
Stop! Stop!
— Chorus #2 of Stop the Madness □
-
It’s Not Easy To Be
A Parent
when you’re considering
coming out to your children
. . . when your lover is jealous
of your kids. . . when your ‘ex’
can’t cope with your lifestyle
. . . when you don’t know
other gay parents.
It’s time to call for help.
South End
Counseling
596 Tremont Street, Boston
GRAPHIC DESIGN
TYPESETTING
PRINTING
10 Magazine Street
Cambridge, MA 02139
(Magazine and Green Streets, Central Square)
“I've only been a lesbian for 8
years, but that's at least 7 years
more than either LoPresti or
Travaglini "
GERSTELL for State
_ Senate _
VOTE THURSDAY SEPTEMBER 15
Committee to elect Marguerite Gerstell
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51 Sunnyside Ave., Winthrop, MA 02152
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PAGE 8 □ JUNE 26-JULY 2, 1988 □ GAY COMMUNITY NEWS
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The AIDS Quilt:
Memories and meanings
AIDS was not the only
issue in Cheryl’s life
Outdoor panels commemorating New Englanders, Boston.
Like souvenirs
By Liz Galst
’m not the kind of girl who likes to spend
an hour in tears if I don’t have to.
On the subway in Boston, I asked
myself why I was going again to see the
AIDS quilts. After all, I’d seen many of the
panels at the March on Washington. My
most vivid memories of that weekend
revolve around the Quilt, my tears dripping
into the hard dirt of the Capitol Mall.
As I walked up the ramp to the Park Plaza
Castle, I decided I was there because I had
not finished with my mourning (will we ever
be able to finish with mourning this
epidemic?). In particular, I needed to grieve
for my friend Cheryl, whom I presume has
died since we last spoke shortly after
Thanksgiving — of AIDS and of her drug
habit. I came to do this in a place where
Cheryl’s death could find its long-denied
political context, and I came to join with the
others who’d lost loved ones.
Cheryl is not one of the people
memorialized in the quilt with a panel that
says “Honey, it was fabulous.” For her I
must mourn twice: once for her death,
which I imagine as slow and painful, and
again for her life, which was often a living
hell. She’d been homeless on and off for the
last 25 years of her 42-year life. Being a poor
Black dyke doesn’t exactly open doors for
you. She used to suck men off just so she
could sleep a night with a roof over her
head.
Cheryl was a good friend to me, counsel¬
ing me to take it easy, to not get over¬
involved in my work. In our last times
together, we often talked of fishing and en¬
joying life while we had it. To be able to
write her name on the yellow quilt
designated for messages meant the world to
me. Tears gushed from my eyes when I
wrote “Cheryl — I don’t know where you
are, but you are always with me.”
In addition to grieving, I needed to
scream, to scream that AIDS was not the
only issue in Cheryl’s life and it’s not the on¬
ly issue in mine. I needed to scream at Cheryl
for leaving me here to sort this mess out
without her. But I didn’t want to disturb the
other mourners or the volunteers with their
boxes of Kleenex and their pristine white
uniforms. Instead I milled around feeling
isolated from people who probably shared a
similar grief.
I wanted so much from the NAMES Pro¬
ject. I wanted to be washed clean of both my
Continued on page 1 4
By Walta Borawski
didn’t go to the March on Washington. I
didn’t go to Woodstock, though I was 21
at the time and lived within 36 miles of
the rock festival grounds. I have always suf¬
fered from claustrophobia, and keep a
crystal on my person to help me meditate on
subways. Anyway, I never saw the AIDS
quilt until Saturday, June 18th, at the
Boston Armory. My lover was out of town,
visiting his parents and siblings, and I went
with my friend Bill. He’d seen it before, at
its unrolling at the Washington March in
October of 1987.
The orderliness of the volunteers was at
first off-putting — to this perpetual child of
the ’60s. There were people in white
everywhere, walking around with walkie-
talkies and boxes of Kleenex. But their
seeming omnipresence was not without
reason; a sunshower crept up rather quickly
Saturday afternoon, and the panels
displayed outside dedicated to the memory
of New Englanders who died from AIDS
complications had to be moved. This virtual
army of people in white were folding effi¬
ciently and bringing the quilt sections to
shelter. Although there were people every¬
where, nobody seemed to get in anyone’s
way. It was sort of like being in a secular
church: is it good manners, or that our more
hostile energies are subdued when we are
collectively faced with the spoils left by a
common enemy?
Not since the Women’s 25,000-panel Rib¬
bon Round the Pentagon on August 4, 1985
(commemorating the 40th anniversary of
the bombing of Hiroshima with the con¬
struction and tying together of panels depic¬
ting what would be lost after nuclear war)
has there been such a collective effort
centering on something as tactile as cloth.
But while the AIDS quilt is a monumental
work, it doesn’t seem anything like art to
me. I think of it as more like souvenirs.
For instance, there is a panel for a man
named Roger Lyon. It is decorated with get
well cards sent to Roger by a group of
Catholic school children who had met him
during the final stages of his illness. The
cards say things like “You better get well
soon, Roger, or you owe me $5 for my time
Continued on page 14
Totem and tableau
By Michael Bronski
s I was walking to the Quilt with my
lover of 13 years and two close
friends, I realized I was not looking
forward, at all, to seeing a display bound to
call up so much grief and pain. I’ve always
felt more comfortable experiencing these
feelings in private and had braced myself for
getting through the next two hours. We
entered the Boston Armory while people
were reading the names of those who had
died and the first name I heard — Henry
Cipriani — was that of an old friend I did
not know had died. It became immediately
clear that I was going to have to surrender
some control if I was to survive the after¬
noon.
Walking through, around and beneath
the many quilts in this tableau it was almost
impossible to keep track of my careening
emotions. Sorrow, terror, pity, fear, anger
welled up and replaced one another with
such rapidity that at points I became almost
giddy. It was like being on acid and knowing
that just about anything might pop into
your mind and attain an importance it might
not normally have.
The one question I kept asking myself.
and keep asking now, is “What does the
Quilt mean — to me?” Of course it is an ex¬
pression of sorrow and anger and clearly a
way of mourning. But it seems to me that
the Quilt is also a piece of magic, a totem or
visual incantation to life. There has been
much written about The Quilt being a piece
of art, and I agree that it is art, but art whose
power resides in its primal psychological
display. Here were representations of men’s
lives that gave me something to live with in
the future; a talisman of hope.
I began to examine each panel. There
were images of cats, teddy bears, rainbows,
and actual items belonging to the deceased
— leather jackets, club colors, stuffed
animals, a piece of old jeans. I found myself
making small judgments on the images —
some were silly or sentimental, others were
too obvious, almost cloying. Ironically,
these judgments brought me into the very
life of the quilt, and I found myself astound¬
ed at the diversity of gay male life.
At the same time, I realized — in a rather
disconcerting epiphany — that I would not
have liked many of these men, I would not
have associated with them, gone out drink¬
ing with them or been friends. I was remind¬
ed of a wonderful essay by Jill Johnston,
which appeared in the Village Voice almost
20 years ago. In it she recounts a difficult
phone conversation with her mother in
which the older woman suddenly burst out
saying, “If you love women than why don’t
you love me?” It’s a tough question, but as I
stood amid all of the quilts I felt, perhaps
for the first time, an unconditional love for
the gay male community in which 1 have liv¬
ed for so long. It was possible to love all of
these men and to not even like some of
them.
The magic of the Quilt is that it makes all
of the ambivalences 1 have about my gay
community negligible in the face of such
sorrow. This sort of emotional transforma¬
tion is what we should expect from art,
although we hardly ever get it. Perhaps
because these panels come from the heart,
and are not filtered through the emotional
and psychological screens we live with every
day, there is a raw power here. At least for
me, it transcends any ordinary
experience. □
GAY COMMUNITY NEWS □ JUNE 26-JULY 2, 1988 □ PAGE 9
Elly Bulkin and Adrienne Rich schmooze about
Jewish identity, queers and the Left
Which
me
will
By Tatiana Schreiber and Kim Westheimer
New Jewish Agenda was founded in
1980 to provide Jewish activists in
the left, feminist and gay/lesbian
movements an opportunity to become
politically involved as Jews. Agenda offers
support for activists struggling to combat
anti-Semitism in other movements, and an
atmosphere that allows for difference, in¬
cluding difference in Jewish background,
whether secular or religious.
Feminist writers Adrienne Rich and Elly
Bulkin have been involved in Agenda since
its earliest days. They note that while it has
always maintained a public commitment to
lesbian/gay liberation, it was not until
recently that the organization made it a
priority to address homophobia more
directly. An important step in this direction
was the 1987 publication of the brochure
“ Coming Out, Coming Home” by
Agenda's Feminist Task Force. (See review,
GCN, Vol. 15, No. 24.)
Recently, Rich and Bulkin were chosen to
fill two newly created positions for gay /les¬
bian representatives on Agenda’s National
Steering Committee, which is the ad¬
ministrative body of the organization. The
Steering Committee also includes represen¬
tatives from Agenda’s task forces on
feminism. Central America, the Middle
East, disarmament, and economic and
social justice.
We talked to Bulkin and Rich when they
were in New York earlier this spring (in the
lovely ambiance of the Lesbian Herstory Ar¬
chives — thanks!). As leftist Jewish les¬
bians, we were eager to discuss the intersec¬
tion of Jewish, lesbian/gay and left iden¬
tities. We thank Pam Mitchell for her help in
preparing for this interview.
(New Jewish Agenda has adopted a Na¬
tional Platform which details its position on
reproductive rights, gay/lesbian issues. Cen¬
tral America, the Middle East and other
subjects. To obtain copies of the platform
or to get more information about the
organization, write NJA, 64 Fulton St.,
ttllOO, NY, NY 10038, or call (212)
227-5885.)
survive
all
these
liberations?
ana: Why were the two gay/lesbian steer¬
ing committee positions established?
Elly: It’s kind of a long history. The plat¬
form that was written in 1982, which I infor¬
mally helped with and other people really
wrote, takes a really pro-lesbian and gay
liberation position. It’s not a pro-lesbian
and gay rights position, it’s talking about
real inclusion and acceptance in terms of
every part of our lives. Since then, there’s
been pressure from within the organization
for these issues to be taken more seriously.
There was a national convention in Ann
Arbor in 1985 and I was one of the speakers
at the feminist mini-plenary. I can’t
remember what they asked me to talk about
[but] I said, “The only thing that I can think
about talking about at an Agenda conven¬
tion is homophobia.” So, I talked about
homophobia. This coincided with the for¬
mation of a national Feminist Task Force,
which has been really critical in terms of
moving things. It was the Feminist Task
Force which was the motivator for us begin¬
ning to do homophobia workshops. It was
through the national Feminist Task Force
that we got money from the Chicago
Resource Center, which is the leading les¬
bian and gay foundation in the country, to
do the “Coming Out/Coming Home”
brochure.
Last summer, we ended up at the Los
Angeles convention with no out lesbian or
gay people elected to the Steering Commit¬
tee through the regular mechanisms. But
there were at-large positions and there was a
discussion about having at least one of them
be filled by an out lesbian or gay person.
And we argued — for very good reasons —
that having one such person was crazy. A
decision was endorsed by the National
Council that the Steering Committee had to
have at least two out lesbian and gay people
— and it has to be clear that these are people
who are out, who are willing to take the
issues on and speak very clearly out of our
identities.
Adrienne: It’s true that at one point, in ’82
or ’83 I guess, both of the co-chairs were out
— one a lesbian and one a gay man. So that
potential was there, but it gets lost if it’s not
institutionalized.
Kim: Despite the. organization’s national
position. I’ve heard there are varying
degrees to which different chapters are will¬
ing to address homophobia or even take it
seriously.
Adrienne: Speaking personally, I moved
recently from the East [where] I didn’t feel
particularly compelled to work with my
local chapter because it was a very
heterosexual, couple-oriented group of peo¬
ple, and not particularly feminist either. It’s
been quite different [in my chapter in
California], although there isn’t by any
means a predominance of gay people or les¬
bians. But there’s a very different kind of at¬
titude and consciousness. And I think that
does vary.
Yana: Let me ask each of you why you chose
to work in this particular organization —
mixed gay and straight, men and women.
Adrienne: Well, I have spent many years
working in all women’s groups [and] in all
lesbian groups in the lesbian/feminist move¬
ment. I felt like this was a new kind of
challenge, to try to create not only a feminist
presence within a mixed organization, but
see how far you could push a feminist
perspective in everything. To make the
politics really hold together and cohere,
with a feminist vision. While some of the
time I feel like that’s very fragmentary and
it’s very uphill, some of the time I feel like
this is a place where it’s possible to do that.
And that has felt very compelling to me. I
had been working with an all lesbian Jewish
women’s group before that and I wanted to
continue to work with Jews.
Elly: Well, I got involved with Agenda in
’82, right after the invasion [of Lebanon], I
was working on the Racism and Anti-
Semitism Task Force of the Brooklyn
chapter for about a year. Then I decided I
wanted to work specifically with lesbians
again and worked with a small group of
Jewish lesbians who met for about a year
and a half in Brooklyn and in Manhattan.
And one of the things that I found [was that]
there were the 10-15 of us and nothing else
out there. I like Agenda because it does give
me a feel that there’s someone on the other
side of the country and in the middle of the
country who is doing what I’m doing. When
all this stuff has been happening around the
Middle East, there are my friends all over
the country who are outraged and sickened
and want to go out and do something.
So, it’s very important to me that Agenda
is both national and that it’s multi-issue.
There’s this tremendous list of things — all
of which need doing. So, on some level,
Agenda’s a copout, because I don’t have to
choose, (laughter) When they had a national
tour of a Black minister from Soweto and a
rabbi from Johannesburg — I could work
on that. At the same time, I could be doing
the stuff around homophobia and general
feminist stuff.
I also feel there have been ways for me [in
Agenda] to explore my Jewish identity
without being pounced on. I think that in
the wave of Jewish feminism in the early
’70s there was sometimes not enough room
for people to look around and say, “Oh,
that’s interesting. I didn’t know that much
about that.” — without having somebody
say, “Well, why didn’t you know about it?”
Kim: What issues did you find most divisive
in that wave of Jewish feminism?
Elly: That’s hard. I don’t know if it’s
specific to that wave. I think many of us
have a feeling that we’re not Jewish enough,
we don’t know enough. I’m basically a
secular Jew — there are whole worlds about
Judaism inside the synagogue, and I don’t
know anything about them. And my first
response, in some ways, is to say, “Should I
be doing this work? I don’t know
anything.” I think for those of us who were
brought up in ways where Jewishness was
assumed, but wasn’t put forward as this
unambivalently positive thing, it’s hard to
feel that we’re as Jewish-identified as
somebody who had a religious upbringing. I
think there’s just a lot of tension around
that.
Adrienne: For instance, we organized a little
group in my chapter to read and talk about
The Tribe of Dina — it drew women from
outside the chapter as well. In the process of
one of our early go-arounds, it became clear
that every one of the women in the room felt
that in some way, she was a “bad Jew.”
And this room contained the grand¬
daughters of rabbis, children of Holocaust
survivors, people who grew up assimilated,
people like myself — without a Jewish
mother. It was really an amazing collection
of people. I think [this attitude] is tremen¬
dously prevalent, and it has a lot to do with
the question, “what is this thing we call
identity?”
Elly: I think one of the functions Agenda
serves is to give unaffiliated Jews who are
progressives a place to be political and to
feel good about being Jewish and hopefully
good about all the others parts of their lives.
A lot of people do come into Agenda saying
“I’ve never done something that is
specifically Jewish.” And on the other end,
we have a whole bunch of rabbis and Hillel
directors who are very involved and iden¬
tified in the Jewish community. Those
groups seem to manage to work together
and to learn from each other.
Claiming identities
Kim: We were trying to think of the ways
that being lesbian, being Jewish and being
on the Left intersect — and why coming out
as a Jew is often the last thing a lesbian lef¬
tist activist does. Do either of you have
thoughts about that?
Adrienne: I actually have been thinking a lot
about the parallels between coming out as a
lesbian and coming out as a Jew. It gets back
to how much you are supposed to know in
order to say, “I am a lesbian, I am a Jew,”
to be able to “claim” that identity. When
Elly: I think that’s probably particularly true
for Jewish, lesbian or gay, red diaper babies.
I have a friend whose parents basically told
her, “Don’t talk to anybody.” They won’t
talk to her about why they left the party and
so on. I think it makes it much harder for
somebody like that to be public when the
lesson of childhood has been, “Hey, they’re
going to get you for doing that.”
Kim: That’s interesting also in terms of the
Holocaust — my mother having been a sur¬
vivor of the Holocaust; there were similar
messages that came from that experience.
So when you think of Jewish culture in
general, there’s the message of “Be careful,
because they might be out to get you.”
Yana: I have a feeling that, particularly in
North America, the claim on Jewish identity
has been taken away from secular Jews,
socialist Jews, activist Jews. Do you think
that’s true?
Elly: I do think that that’s true and the ma¬
jor Jewish organizations in the United
States claim to speak for all Jews when in
fact they don’t represent all Jews. There’s a
huge percentage of both politically and
religiously unaffiliated Jews in the United
States that these folks don’t speak for and
very often, don’t speak to. I think an
organization like Agenda can begin to ad¬
dress that by saying that we’re part of the
Jewish community also.
Kim: Could you speak about your process of
coming out as Jews? It seemed to us that
both of you came to a public Jewish identity
after having come through feminism, the
civil rights movement, and anti-racism
work.
Adrienne: That’s correct, as far as public
identity is concerned, although [my Jewish
identity has] been an issue for me since way
back. I was saying to Elly that I feel as
though every time in my life that I read or
heard the word “Jew,” it went right
through me as something that concerned me
profoundly.
I feel, just as you do, that between the
silence after the Holocaust and the silence of
the McCarthy years there was a huge
amount of Jewish history and consciousness
that was getting lost and erased. And then,
it seems that it began to be possible again to
go back and look at what had been getting
lost. All my life I was looking for places
where I could explore this, but it was not un-
Creators of the Agenda brochure “Coming Out/Coming Home” (L-R): Laurie White, Yoel Kahn, Ellen
Stone, Elly Bulkin, Ruth Atkin, Adrienne Rich and Andy Rose
you come out as a lesbian it’s not assumed
that you have read Gay American History
[by Jonathan Katz] or all of the classic texts
of lesbian literature (laughter) from Sappho
on, or that you necessarily read Greek.
But there’s a tremendous sense — and I
don’t know how much this has to do w ,.i
the Jewish tradition of learning — that you
should know all these things [to be a Jew]. A
lot of it of course, is about finding out how
much you do know, because usually we
know a lot more than we think and we
remember things that we had forgotten.
I think it’s much harder to come out to¬
day as a lesbian or gay man or as a Jew than
it is [to come out] as a progressive — and I
don’t think that was necessarily always true.
I'm thinking about the McCarthy era when
progressives really had to go underground
and veil their identity.
Yana: I was wondering if coming out as a
progressive lesbian or gay Jew all at the same
time is still influenced by shadows of Mc-
Carthyism. I grew up with that shadow. One
of the things I heard the most in my family
was “Don’t talk about politics in public,
just don’t.”
til I was working with other consciously-
identified Jewish women that it felt — you
know, this word “safe” that gets thrown
around so much.
Elly: One of the things I didn’t think about
until after I had written my piece, “Hard
Ground” [in Yours in Struggle, Long Haul
Press, 1984] was that part of my resistance
to thinking positively about being Jewish
had to do with my early identification as a
lesbian. I mean, I was a tomboy, I played on
the boys’punchball team in 4th, 5th and 6th
grade. I played basketball by myself during
the winter. My mother took me to a
therapist when I was in the 5th grade. I
didn’t have any understanding at that age of
what this was all about, except that I said I
liked to play basketball and I wasn’t coming
back to discuss it. daughter) — which in a
lot of ways has been the seed of my stub¬
bornness over the years.
But in certain ways, I feel that not being
wanted by my family was not being wanted
by Jews. I did have these various positive
feelings about growing up being Jewish, but
at the same time, there was this tremendous
overlay and so in some ways, I still don’t feel
part of the Jewish community.
Kim: And that was within a secular Jewish
family?
Elly: Yeah, not particularly political —
liberal in terms of politics. I think my
parents had many of the ambivalences their
generation of Jews had: on the one hand, it
was very important to know everybody who
was well-known and Jewish — the way we
now sit and say, “She’s a dyke.” But [they]
never had extended discussions about what it
meant to be Jewish or felt that there were
certain things it was important to pass on.
Yana: When I read Another Mother Tongue
by Judy Grahn [Beacon Press, 1984], who
found a lot of lesbian and gay artifacts all
over the world throughout history, I
thought that Jews do the same thing —
wander around and find artifacts of a tem¬
ple in Manchuria and whatnot. But we don’t
see anybody finding gay and lesbian Jewish
history. I’m wondering if anybody is doing
that now, if we should start the process of
looking for our roots.
Elly: I don’t know if anybody is doing it in a
global way. Some of it is in Jonathan Katz’s
books. And there’s the Wasteland [reissued
1987, Jewish Publication Society] by Jo Sinclair
[Ruth Seid’s pen-name]. Debbie, who is this
character in it, is a radical, a Jew and a les¬
bian — it’s very clear. The fascinating thing
about Wasteland, considering when it was
written [published in 1945], is that her
brother [the main character], who goes
through psychoanalysis in the course of it,
comes to an acceptance of her lesbianism —
and that’s a sign of his health. The other side
of his health is a change that he goes through
about his own racism. Along with those
things, he starts out feeling really terrible
about being Jewish and ends up feeling good
about it. In Wasteland you can find a
Jewish, lesbian, radical history.
Yana: Do you feel like gay and lesbian Jews
have a particular role to play in strengthen¬
ing the Left?
Adrienne: I’ve always thought that we have
a role to play in terms of our existence, as
long as it’s visible. Our experience in
marginality has often led to our coming to
know other marginalized people, has
resulted in our needing each other wherever
we could find each other and, therefore, not
being as ready to accept the kind of social
fragmentations that occur elsewhere. It’s
not necessarily so, but I feel the potential is
there and it’s often acted on.
Yana: On the other hand, it seems like the
gay and lesbian Jewish groups that exist
don’t tend to be Left groups.
Elly: There hasn’t been a national organiza¬
tion specifically of lesbian and gay Jewish
progressives. There’s been a choice of
whether to join something like Agenda,
which is obviously a predominantly straight
organization and that’s a very difficult
choice.
But I don’t feel like my work at Agenda
makes me any less connected with my les¬
bian community. There are certain things
that feel very safe [in Agenda] and there are
certain [times when] I feel like, “Oh I’m so
tired of this, let somebody else do it.”
(laughter) Like last night at my chapter
meeting we were talking about Jesse
Jackson and the subject was really Jackson
and the Jews. And I got into the discussion
about how I couldn’t look at just, “How do
I feel as a Jew about Jackson,” but “How
do I feel as a lesbiaa having heard him speak
to 5,000 lesbians and gay men outside the
Lesbian and Gay Community Center last
week?” You know, it’s a bit like “Which me
will survive all of these liberations?” as
Audre [Lorde] says.
It’s a question of finding some place
where some of the time you feel pretty much
at home. If you can find enough sustenance
from those times, then they will make the
other times worth it. I think sometimes the
lesbian and women’s community doesn’t get
looked at in that way. I hear more of,
“Well, this is home; I’m comfortable here.”
But I wonder how many of us are really so
comfortable. I have, both with Agenda and
the women’s community, the love-hate rela¬
tionship that is part of being family — which
doesn’t mean I would ever give either of
them up. But I expect more, I want more —
it’s because I need more. I suffer more when
they fail me or I feel that I’ve been failed.
Kim: There’s really not as much out there
for Jewish gay men. When you look at
Jewish lesbians, there are books, an¬
thologies, groups.
Adrienne: I think that there is less — because
the women’s movement has been steadily
producing an enormous amount of cultural
resources for 20 years. And we have institu¬
tions which can keep them coming; those in¬
stitutions may come and go but they’re still
viable. There hasn’t been anything com¬
parable for men. I’ve been listening to
Jewish men talk — whether gay or straight
— and my feeling is that there’s an issue of
what it means to be a man and a Jew that
precedes what it means to be a gay man and
a Jew. I know Harry Brod [editor of A
Mensch Among Men, Explorations in
Jewish Masculinity, Crossing Press, 1988] is
trying to do some of that [work on gay male
Jewish identity], but there’s a real and very
familiar reluctance to take that as a serious
question.
Elly: If you’re talking about stuff that’s
specifically gay and Jewish, [you’re talking
about] an anthology that nobody’s put
together yet.
Adrienne: Nice Jewish boys, (laughter)
Weddings, demonstrations and education
Yana: Within Agenda, is there a struggle be¬
tween the people who emphasize
“mainstreaming” gay and lesbian culture —
weddings, raising your children Jewish,
coupledom — versus those who hope to
enlist Jews in the struggle against
homophobia?
Adrienne: I don’t see it as a polarity, I see it
very much as a complimentarity . It certainly
isn’t about simply providing an enclave
where gay and lesbian Jews can feel comfor¬
table. I see it in the small ways — where a
straight member of Agenda decides in¬
dependently that she wants to, say, bring the
homophobia workshop to her chapter. This
also goes along with a lot of other challenges
we’re making to the mainstream or tradi¬
tional Jewish communities. [Agenda] is con¬
fronting a lot of myths and sentimental
ideas about Jewish family life. We’re trying
to say, “Who are these Jewish families?
Well, some of them are gay and lesbian.”
Elly: I also see some of the work that I’m do¬
ing as responsive to a community that is not
the mainstream Jewish community. Agenda
did a Havdala [service marking the end of
Sabbath] at DC at the March and there were
400 people there; the room was too small
and we could have packed in 600 more peo¬
ple. People came up to me for days when I
was still in Washington, waiting to do civil
disobedience, and said, “God, that was
really great.” These people aren’t going to
join Agenda, but it was important that this
was done for the lesbian and gay communi¬
ty.
At the people of color rally that was in the
morning, there was a guy who had a rabid
homophobic sign, and he was hustled off.
He came back, and the sign he had said
something like “Stop Jewish Control of the
Government” and something about the
“Jewish/Communist Conspiracy.” Where
everybody had rallied around when he was
being really homophobic, when he came out
with this Jew-hating, people looked, but
nobody did anything. It was frustrating;
there was one Black man who
was trying to deal with this guy. So we
brought the Agenda banner over with some
other Agenda people and held it up in front
of him and people finally responded. I was
terribly relieved to have this piece of cloth
because what could I have done —
short of punching him, which I wasn’t
prepared to do. There’s that level where
having a progressive Jewish group that’s out
there at gay events does something.
Kim: Let me ask about the “Coming/Out
Coming Home” brochure — who is it
primarily intended for?
Elly: One of the men on the steering commit¬
tee who’s straight said that his sister and her
lover were able to go home to visit her
parents for the first time because her father
had read this. I felt, in a lot of ways, that
those were the people we were writing it for
— our families, who are not lesbians and
gay. Also, we would hope that people in the
organized Jewish community, some of
whom are religious, would find it useful. In
fact, we’ve gotten multiple orders from
Hillels and synagogues, from social service
agencies and from a rabbinical school.
Other people write in and say things like,
“You know, I have a friend who has AIDS.
I gave him the copy and now I need an extra
copy.”
Adrienne: One thing that certainly came
through as we were working on it was that
there has been a crisis for lesbian and gay
people in terms of Jewish social service
organizations — that the ignorance and the
prejudice and the insensitivity have been
great.
Elly: There’s increasing concern among rab¬
bis about lesbian and gay issues particularly
because of AIDS. And they’re continually
finding themselves in the position of
counseling PWAs or counseling the families
of PWAs — who have varying degrees of ac¬
ceptance of their son’s or brother’s lifestyle.
For [rabbis], it becomes a major problem, in
terms of social service provision, as well as
in terms of what their pastoral role is —
dealing with their community.
Challenging anti-Semitism and racism
Kim: It seems there’s always been a commit¬
ment in Agenda to incorporate an anti-racist
Continued on page |2
Agenda
Continued from centerspread
perspective into its work. How actively has
Agenda addressed racism?
Adrienne: The Economic and Social Justice
Task Force has done a considerable amount
of anti-racist organizing. There was the anti¬
apartheid tour, but closer to home, there
was a Jewish/Black dialogue tour. My own
feeling is we need to be incorporating anti¬
racist perspectives more overtly and con¬
sciously throughout; they still tend to be em¬
bodied too much in individual projects. It’s
the way I feel about a feminist perspective' —
it has to be constantly on call.
Elly: I think the Jackson campaign has been
a valuable springboard, probably for Jews
every place, but certainly Jews in Agenda —
many of whom supported Jackson as in¬
dividuals — to talk about these questions
and look into working with the Rainbow
Coalition in different areas.
Yana: It seemed to us that there has been less
public dialogue between Black feminists and
Jewish feminists in the last five years. Do
you think that’s true and why?
Adrienne: I can’t actually think of a whole
lot of public dialogue before then. I’m rack¬
ing my brain and I’m thinking of that
dialogue that Conditions published many
years ago. Certainly, there’s been an im¬
mense amount of private dialogues or semi¬
private dialogues, but I’m not sure there’s
been that much that would be visible in
print.
Elly: I have a perspective problem with the
question. There’s been all this stuff about
Blacks and Jews, particularly in New York
with the primary. But one should take that
flack from the organized Jewish community
in Albany. A long time ago, some guy who
did a lot of Middle East work said that the
two most difficult words in Agenda were
“lesbian” and “PLO.” I think that in the
Jewish community at large, those are still
two of the most difficult words to get out.
All the polls have indicated that the over¬
whelming majority of Palestinian people in
the occupied territories see the PLO as their
representative; that’s basically Agenda’s
position. Our argument has always been,
“You don’t make peace between friends,
you make peace between enemies.” Nobody
is giving the Palestinians the option of
meeting with Women against the Occupa¬
tion or some group they will find compati¬
ble. The alternative is to ask them to select
an Israeli group that is not beating up on
them every day.
There have also been demonstrations out¬
side the [Israeli] consulate here and in other
cities. In Philadelphia and probably in other
places, people have lit yahrzeit [memorial! candles
for the Palestinians who have been killed in the
uprising. Yahrzeit candles are usually lit for the im¬
mediate family. So I found that really moving as a
symbolic act. There was a great deal
of criticism from the mainstream Jewish
community. I think for people who accept
everything that Israel does as being ok and
will excuse anything Israel does because of
Jewish history, it becomes impossible to see
Palestinians as people. I think that’s sad,
that’s a tragedy.
Adrienne: I think the inability to see the
Palestinians as people goes along with the
inability to see the Israelis as people. People
who, like other people, have flaws, make
mistakes, and also stand up against policies
of their government that they think are
Elly Bulkin and Alix Dobkin
issue and move it over to the women’s com¬
munity; the larger question is relations bet¬
ween Jewish and non-Jewish women, the
overwhelming majority of whom are white.
I understand some of the historical reasons
for [talking about Black/Jewish relations],
but it’s not as if Black women who are not
Jewish should have any more responsibility
for consciousness about Jewish issues than
white women who aren’t Jewish. I would
like to see non-Jewish women meeting in
consciousness raising groups to talk about
anti-Semitism, to talk about what it meant
for them to be raised as Christians, as most
of them are in our society, and to figure out
how to learn the things that they don’t
know.
For somebody who’s not Jewish, it’s not
enough to go to a seder [Passover celebra¬
tion] once a year and feel like you have this
connection with Jewish issues. And I think
those of us who are white need to continue
to do the type of work that has a long history
in our movement — white women getting
together and figuring out how to do a better
job of being anti-racist.
Elly: A non-Jewish woman in Agenda who
just moved to Albany is married to a Jewish
man who has done workshops for Jews and
non-Jews. She and I are hopefully going to
do some workshops for our chapter — mix¬
ed men and women and women-only. I’m
interested in having the Jews in the group
bring a non-Jewish spouse or partner or
friend.
Agenda and the Middle East
Kim: Could you talk some about Agenda’s
position on the Israeli/Palestinian conflict?
Elly: We currently have a petition campaign
and we’re urging that there be an interna¬
tional conference and we urge that the PLO
be involved in the conference. One of the
men in my chapter and I did a press con¬
ference dealing with this and we got a lot of
wrong. Like people all over the world, they
are protesting and saying, “This is not what
we meant. This is not what we had in
mind.” There’s a non-recognition of that by
the same people who don’t recognize
Palestinian existence.
Elly: So the positions that we take and the
language that we use are really mild compared
to what Israelis say in criticism. It’s not as if
they’re in one camp and we’re out here.
Kim: Does Agenda support a two-state solu¬
tion?
Elly: That’s in the platform; Agenda sup¬
ports a two-state solution with mutually
secure borders.
Kim: Is it clear what those border are or is
that something to be negotiated?
Elly: I think it goes back to the pre-’67 boun¬
daries, but I would check.
Yana: I think it just says, “within secure
borders” and that a Palestinian state would
exist in the West Bank and Gaza. We
also wanted to talk about the equation of
Zionism and racism. Could you talk about
where that equation leads or doesn’t lead?
Adrienne: I guess I feel like it doesn’t lead —
Elly: anyplace.
Adrienne: Partly because neither Zionism
nor racism is very much revealed by that
equation. And the more I have educated
myself about Zionism, the more I realize
that there are many Zionisms, and that some
of these certainly had a strong, egalitarian,
socialist vision which presumably would
develop into an anti-racist vision. Others did
not. But, I think you have to look at what
the mentality of Europe was at the begin¬
nings of the Zionist movement on into the
period when the state of Israel was founded;
it’s a totally racist mindset. Racism had been
[in the Middle East] long before [Zionism];
it had been there with the Crusades, and it
had been there with various kinds of im¬
perialism and colonialism — from Europe,
Continued on page 1 3
PAGE 12 □ JUNE 26-JULY 2, 1988 □ GAY COMMUNITY NEV'
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"Both Jews and lesbian and gay people have a painful
history of trying to 'pass' in the dominant culture... Each
confronts the question of how — and even whether — to
affirm an identity about which the dominant culture is
largely ignorant and rife with prejudice.
'Why must she (or he) be so obviously Jewish (or gay)?'
people sometimes ask. The joy we feel in embracing our
heritage, in expressing our love for who and what we
are, is our best answer to their question. 'Because I am
not ashamed! Because I am proud of who I am and of
my people!'”
From Coming Out, Coming Home: Lesbian and Gay
Jews and the Jewish Community, a 16-page booklet writ¬
ten and developed by the National Feminist Task Force of
New Jewish Agenda.
New Jewish Agenda, a national progressive organization with chapters
in 50 cities and nearly 5000 members, seeks to apply traditional Jewish
values and history to current domestic and international concerns.
Priority issues include feminism, economic and social justice, disarma¬
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NJA is committed to building an inclusive Jewish community free of
sexism and heterosexism. Among our projects are ongoing education to
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H IQ
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Make all checks payable to New Jewish Agenda, mail to 64 Fulton St., No. 1100,
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Agenda
Continued from page 1 2
the French and British. To say that it was the
Zionism itself that created that mindset or
that somehow made it more efficacious con¬
fuses the question of what the relationship
of Europe has been to the Middle East and
to the Third World in general.
Kim: When you talk about different kinds of
Zionisms, do you see a way that a Zionism
which is based on Jews returning to a land
where other people are living, to make it a
Jewish state, is there any way —
Adrienne: That that could be okay?
Kim: That that could not be racist? I’m not
talking about the slogan itself, but in general
about the whole concept. Do you think
there would have been a way for the Israeli
state to happen that wasn’t racist?
Adrienne: For me it’s not very productive to
say what might have happened if — we have
this situation now. What are we going to do
with it? What are Jews going to do with it?
The kind of state of Israel that has evolved is
very different from what a lot of people
thought they were trying to establish, and
we might say, “That is because it was all
founded on this one crucial mistake.” Yet, I
think it’s for a lot of reasons; that’s one of
them.
Elly: The other factor is the historical role of
the major powers. The British, Western
Europe, the U.S. — were in there, trying to
make it as difficult as possible, trying to
keep the Jews out, issuing white papers.
I think the Zionism is racism equation
ends dialogue. Maybe part of [what’s need¬
ed is] to shift the discussion so that there’s
also more of a recognition of Jews who talk
about what’s happening there not simply in
terms of “Is it good for the Jews?” but “Is
it good for the Jews and the Arabs, for all of
the people who live there?” It’s almost post-
Zionist.
Yana: You both said that you don’t feel that
discussion leads anywhere, you shouldn’t
spend all your time looking at the historical
reasons for the formation of the state, you
should look at the current situation. But the
current situation is that Israelis are occupy¬
ing the West Bank in the name of Zionism,
very rabidly. A kind of Zionism is a very,
very, dominant viewpoint in the state. True,
there are people in Israel who are just as
rabidly anti-Zionist, but I guess I’m wonder¬
ing how you can say, “Well, we have to look
at the current state, but we don’t want to
really talk about the question of whether
Zionism is racism?”
Elly: I think the practical thing to do is to
deal with what the current situation is,
rather than going back. The question is
whether you’re going to try to seek redress
for what’s been done and try to work things
out as equitably as possible. I don’t think
we’re arguing for shelving history. I think it
becomes fairly complicated. I’ve seen peo¬
ple who’ve taken the Zionism is racism posi¬
tion who’ve given entire histories of the
Middle East and never mentioned the
Holocaust. The people who go around say¬
ing the PLO is a terrorist organization are
doing something that’s very similar. The
PLO enagages in and supports some violent
terrorist acts, but the PLO also has a Red
Cross and they have schools; they’re a
government in exile.
A new progressive Jewish feminist
periodical?
Adrienne: We just wanted to mention this
newsletter of the Feminist Task Force that
several of us have been producing four times
a year. We’re hoping to enlarge it and make
it more widely available, first within the
organization and [then] outside the
organization. We’re thinking about what
might turn into a progressive Jewish
feminist periodical. One of the aspects of
this that would be of particular interest to
GCN readers is that it would be a Jewish
feminist periodical with a very strong les-
bian/gay, feminist and progressive perspec¬
tive. And hopefully, we would also be able
to bring in issues of class and race in a more
systematic way. □
Alabama
Continued from page I
permitted to work, attend classes, receive
furloughs, or participate in work release or
other community-based programs
•prisoners’ medical records are not kept
confidential
•prisoners are denied equal access to law
libraries, which they often need to prepare
legal challenges.
In addition, the suit demands that
prisoners receive important AIDS
treatments such as AZT and other life-
prolonging therapies.
Despite the fact that tests for HIV an¬
tibodies have a significant margin of error,
Herbert said the Alabama DOC makes no
provisions for false positive or false negative
test results and does not provide counseling
for prisoners about the results of their tests.
Consequently, according to the suit, many
prisoners “suffer extreme emotional
anguish believing they have AIDS. They are
told that they have a dread disease for which
there is no cure. Prisoners who test positive
are provided no emotional support or
counseling. Prisoners who falsely test
positive needlessly suffer pain and
anguish.”
Confidentiality is impossible to guarantee
in the prison setting, according to the suit.
Many prisoners who test positive are im¬
mediately labelled “faggots” and “lepers”
by the entire prison community and sub¬
jected to verbal harassment and physical
abuse. The antibody status of prisoners is
often leaked to friends and family members.
Judy Greenspan of the ACLU National
Prison Project said lesbian and gay
prisoners, regardless of their antibody
status, are often singled out for abuse based
on the perception that they are “spreading”
AIDS. In Alabama, openly gay inmate
Nathaniel Barnes was stabbed by another
inmate while working on the AIDS mem¬
orial quilt. Barnes, in a recent letter to GCN,
said the prison administration has ignored
the attack. (See GCN Vol. 15, No. 47.)
Widespread testing and isolation
Prisoner advocates from around the
country hailed the suit as an important part
of the effort to stem the growing national
trend toward repressive AIDS measures in
federal and state prisons.
Ken Stevens, of Prisoner Legal Services
of New York, said the suit represents a rare
opportunity to expose the mistreatment of
prisoners and force changes in the prison
AIDS policy. “Sufficient public pressure
has yet to be exerted on prison administra¬
tions to instigate humane AIDS programs,”
said Stevens.
Greenspan said that isolation wards
established at many prisons are “dumping
grounds for those the prison system cares
least about — people of color, gays and les¬
bians and people that are sick.... I mean,
what century are these [prison ad¬
ministrators] from?” She said prisoners in
isolation wards suffer from depression,
malnutrition and generally unhealthy living
conditions which contribute to the progres¬
sion of the disease.
Large numbers of prisoners are affected
by prison AIDS policies, although the only
statistics available are compiled by prison
administrators who have consistently at¬
tempted to minimize the extent of the
epidemic in prisons. The ACLU Prison Pro¬
ject, which relies upon prison ad¬
ministrators for data, estimates there are at
least 1,500 prisoners with AIDS in state and
federal correctional facilities.
The New York State Department of
Health estimates that 25 percent of inmates
in New York State prisons are HIV
antibody-positive. The Alabama DOC
claims that of over 15,000 prisoners tested,
132 are HIV antibody-positive. Those
prisoners are currently confined in isolation
wards.
In addition to isolating prisoners who
have AIDS or who test HIV antibody¬
positive, prison authorities often prevent
them from leaving the prison system. The
federal prison system requires HIV testing
before prisoners can be granted parole.
Greenspan said hundreds of prisoners have
already been denied parole because of their
antibody status. Connecticut prisoner Lewis
Sierra recently told GCN the new policy
amounts to “quarantine” for PWAs and
those who test antibody-positive. Sierra said
prison doctors refused to sign his release
papers after they discovered his positive an¬
tibody status.
Withholding education
Stevens told GCN the Alabama suit could
help prisoners obtain the potentially life¬
saving AIDS counseling, safer-sex informa¬
tion and AIDS treatments often withheld by
prison administrations.
The suit claims the lack of education puts
prisoners at greater risk of transmission
because they are ignorant of how the virus is
actually transmitted. By isolating prisoners
who test HIV positive, and by forcing them
to use disposable utensils and wear surgical
masks outside their cells, prison authorities
Continued on page 14
GAY COMMUNITY NEWS U JUNE 26-JULY 2, 1988 □ PAGE 13
Cheryl
Continued from page 9
sadness and my anger about what AIDS has
done to all of us. 1 wanted to get rid of my
resentment that the white male response to
AIDS has dominated the political agenda of
the American lesbian and gay political
movement. I wanted to feel connected to
every quilt panel. I wanted the NAMES
Project to acknowledge the long history of
feminist political quilting, without which
the AIDS quilts never would have come to
be.
And I still need a screaming room. □
Souvenirs
Continued from page 9
and effort,” or ‘‘Any friend of Dicon
[Deacon] Paul’s is a friend of me.” Roger
died the day before these cards arrived, but
the maker of the quilt panel put them here,
so the messages are hardly without recipient.
Right next to Roger’s panel is one for Baby
Jessica, done by a couple who were moved
by her story, and put toys not her own in
between folds from a sheet not from her
bed, creating a highly disturbing personal
experience for people who knew her only as
an item in a newspaper during a particularly
bleak pandemic.
One has to wonder: why aren’t there such
quilts for women who have been raped?
Why not for incest survivors? Maybe there
soon will be. For one thing, the idea of
“monument” seems to be changing —
toward the personal. And what a different
“ROY COHN: BULLY COWARD
VICTIM” or one that puts Cohn’s name on
a Soviet flag, or one that puts on a small
American flag a note extolling Cohn’s “love
for his country”?
One of the most moving panels in the
quilt is one that changes community to com¬
munity, and consists of a large (in Boston,
gold) panel on which people are free to write
messages. One sees phrases: “Bob Duffy,
Memorial Day will never be the same,”
“Carl, I’m still here but I’m scared.”
No two people leave the quilt with the
sarpe feelings. My friend Alison saw it most¬
ly as a tribute to the horrible loss wrought by
AIDS; I felt eerily hopeful, that after watch¬
ing friends and lovers die of this horror,
people had the energy and the love and the
wherewithal to make these panels. To me,
the AIDS quilt cuts through crap of cen¬
turies of Christianity, and sterile eulogies
that come factory-like from persons who
did not know the dead at all — going back to
so-called primitive rituals of burying some¬
one’s favorite eating bowl with her or him.
The quirkiness of the Quilt already puts it
in the category of a relic of a vanished
culture: how many people will understand
why Marilyn Monroe’s likeness decorates
two panels? Why is “Somewhere Over the
Rainbow” carefully lettered across at least
one panel? What is the significance of the
likeness of a person dressed half in leather
and half in a tuxedo jacket? What does a
forest shared by two panels commemorating
departed members of the Chiltern Mountain
Club connote? Why are there so many teddy
bears? Why is there a blue satin whale on
feeling one has tracing names of dead high
school acquaintances engraved in the Viet¬
nam War Memorial — as opposed to the ex¬
perience of seeing statues that look like
angels erected to the memory of soldiers
fallen in one war or another. It is the inclu¬
sion of the personal that makes people walk
around the panels of the AIDS quilt in a
daze, bumping into each other, saying “I’m
sorry.” How else can you react to a quilt
that has a copy of TV Guide adhered to it
under a plastic envelope? Or one that has
someone’s blue jeans or leather vest, or a
likeness of his or her cat or dog? How much
hurt or anger is in a quilt panel that says:
Bob Andrews quilt? How many of us who
can explain these things will be here when
the quilt finds its final home?
And who can explain to me the feelings
with which I was overwhelmed, stopped
still, when Margaret Cerullo came over to
me and said, “Walta, I’ve found Jim, he’s
over there in the corner, up toward the ceil¬
ing,” and I walked over and there it was, the
panel made by Bobby Purrington, saying
“Jim Gleason.” Why did I feel that
everyone else who would find this, who
would see it, would have some understan¬
ding of how I miss my friend, how he lived
and how he died? □
Alabama
Continued from page 1 3
perpetuate the myth that the disease is
spread through casual contact.
Ortega said prison administrations often
foster an “AIDS-phobic” environment by
refusing to provide AIDS information to
prisoners. Prisoner rights advocates believe
that instead of teaching prisoners and prison
workers to work and live together, prison
authorities encourage existing prejudices
based on sexual orientation among
prisoners in order to keep them fighting
among themselves.
□filed from Boston
Each and every Friday night at
Gay Community News
62 Berkeley St. (617)426-4469
Correction
In last week’s story “We have rather been
invaded" (Vol. 15, No. 46), Jeffrey Weeks should
have been identified as a social historian.
617-776-5866
Somerville, Mass.
Lynne S. Brandon, Ph.D.
FINANCIAL
MANAGEMENT
Long-range Planning, State Contracting,
Budgeting, Staff Training & Supervision,
Conversion to Computerized Systems
• Non-Profit
Agencies
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NOW OPEN
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Mass Merchandise Mart
810 Lynnway, Lynn, Mass.
Between Bldg. 19 7/8 & Bob
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5 DAYS A WEEK
Weds 10-6
Thurs & Fri 10-9
Sat & Sun 10-6
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posters, graphics, paintings
237 Broadway, Hanover MA
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GENERAL
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Services
JOHN C. BARNA, dmd
Gerald Matison, L.I.C.S.W.
AMY D. WETTER, r.d.h
Andover Psychotherapy
10 High Street
Andover, MA 01810
790 BOYLSTON STREET
10 FAIRFIELD PLAZA
BOSTON. MA 02199
617-474-6950
1617)353-1500
Safer Sex
and Drug Use
Guidelines
Assessing individual risk for AIDS and
other illnesses is the first step towards using
safer sex and drug use guidelines. Only you
and your partner(s) can decide how much risk
is acceptable — take stock of your sexual and
drug use histories.
Be aware that the highest concentrations of
HIV (the virus widely thought to cause AIDS)
are found in blood and semen. The most
common routes of HIV transmission are
through sharing needles and unprotected anal
or vaginal intercourse.
GCN's guidelines come from a wide variety
of sources aimed at various communities
concerned about the AIDS epidemic and
health in general. We want to confront the
prevailing "no sex is best" attitude and
present an approach that is as sex-positive as
possible.
Information for gay male, lesbian and
bisexual communities
Safer sex can include: massage, hugging,
kissing, erotic talk, phone sex, masturbation
(solo, pairs and groups), using your own
vibrators, dildos or other sex toys and s/m,
butch/fem role-playing, fantasy scenes,
bondage and other activities that do not
involve the exchange of semen or blood
(including menstrual blood).
Do not allow a partner’s semen or blood
(including menstrual blood and blood drawn
from piercing, cutting or shaving) to enter
your vagina, anus, mouth or breaks in your
skin.
Use condoms for fucking (anal and vaginal
intercourse), for licking/sucking penises and
for covering dildos and other sex toys. Use
water-based lubricants. Use latex barriers
(dental dams or other plastic/latex materials)
between the genital area and mouth when
licking/sucking cunts and assholes. Be
especially careful to avoid the exchange of
menstrual blood. Using nonoxynol-9 or other
spermicides with condoms and latex barriers
may add extra protection.
For finger-fucking or fisting (anal or vaginal
penetration with fingers or hands), use latex
gloves or finger cots. Use water-based
lubricants.
Alternative insemination may put you at
risk. Be sure to discuss risk for AIDS with
potential donors or sperm bank.
Be aware that some risk of exposure to
immune-suppressing infections (such as mono
and amoebiasis) may be associated with
rimming (anal-oral contact) — use a latex
barrier. Risk may also be associated with
watersports (urine) or feces in the mouth,
rectum or in open cuts. If you share dildos,
vibrators or other sex toys, use condoms or
clean toys with hydrogen peroxide.
Your body’s ability to fight all disease,
including AIDS and its related illnesses (such
as Kaposi’s Sarcoma and pneumocystis carinii
pneumonia), may be benefitted by general
good health — good nutrition, lots of rest,
exercise and nonabuse of alcohol, poppers
and other drugs.
If you use IV drugs, follow the guidelines
below.
Intravenous drug use
Do not share works (needles, syringes,
droppers, spoons, cottons or cookers).
Do not re-use needles; use fresh cottons each
time.
If you must share or re-use your works,
clean them as follows: dip needle and works
into 100 percent bleach, draw up and release
three times, dip needle and works into water,
draw up and release three times (in an
emergency, rubbing alcohol, vodka or wine
can also be used). As an alternative, boil
works in water for at least fifteen minutes.
Use a fresh solution each time you clean your
works.
Resource phone numbers
National AIDS Hotline: I (800) 342-7514
AIDS Action Committee (AAC). Boston: (617) 437-7733
AIDS Action Committee (AAC) IV Drug Use Taskforce.
Boston: (617) 437-4200
Gay Men's Health Crisis (GMHC), New York: (212)
807-6655
National Minority AIDS Council (NMAC). Washington.
D C.: (202) S44-I076
Women's AIDS Network, San Francisco: (415) 864-4376
PAGE 14 □ jUNE 26-JULY 2, 1988 □ GAY COMMUNITY NEWS
Lady Jane's
Inn
• Large lovely rooms
• Private full baths
• Separate outside entrances
• Free parking _
• Common room with color TV/VCR
• Steps from bay beach
• Open year round
• Woman owned and operated}.
If?
7 Central Street
Provincetown, Ma. 02657
617-487-3387
Some enchanted evening. . .
Fireplaced rooms with period decor
Fireplaced cottages — Full breakfast
Daily or weekly rentals
M. Susan Culligan. Innkeeper
178 Bradford Street
Provincetown, Mass. 02657 (61 7) 487-1616
VICTORIA HOUSE
THE GUEST HOUSE
OPEN YEAR ROUND
COMFORTABLE, ATTRACTIVE ROOMS
WITH PRIVATE BATHS. CABLE COLOR
TELEVISION AND REFRIGERATORS.
X X X
Your Hosts
Sue Champeau & Bill Wooley
5 STANDISH ST.
PROVINCETOWN,
MA 02657
(617) 487-1319
9 Court Street P.O. Box 483
Provincetown, MA 02657
(617) 487-9005
Managers
Robert “Rosie” Coane
David Harris
Iiruiicli
Mushrooms Clayton
Plump mushrooms stuffed with cream
cheese served with sweet & sour sauce
Seafood Bisque
Eggs Benedict
Chicken with Gran Marnier
& Strawberry Sauce
and of course our
world class mimosas
STATION
477 Yarmouth Rd. Hyannis. MA • Rte. 6 • Exit 7 • 1.5 Miles on Right • (617) 775-9835
Murder
Continued from page I
another named his recent boyfriends,” he
added. “I don’t know how they found this
stuff out, or why they thought they needed
to know it at all; apparently they were trying
to make it look like they knew all about
you.”
The police generally ended their inter¬
rogation by asking the “suspect” if they
could think of anybody “into leather or
satanism” who might have committed the
crime. “It looks to me like they were com¬
pletely in the dark and fishing for
anything,” said “Kevin.”
“It looks like they chose ‘suspects’ at ran¬
dom, just because they were gay and had
been at the bar that night,” said ‘Tom,’ an
officer of the Gay and Lesbian Peoples’
Union (GLPU) of Southern Illinois Univer¬
sity at Carbondale. “It was pretty obvious
to us that it was an anti-gay crime; every
summer there’s homophobic violence —
beatings, even shootings — at Crab Orchard
Lake, but the police preferred to blame the
victims and look at it as a crime by gays.”
The investigators also asked members of
the GLPU what they knew about local peo¬
ple “into leather” or “satanism.” “I think
some of those cops watched the movie
Cruising once too often,” said “Tom.”
“For all their information about who does
what to whom sexually, they are very ignor¬
ant about the local community.
A married couple, Richard and Rita Jo
Nitz, were charged with the murder in early
June, but the state prosecutor in the case,
Charles Garnati, refused to say what
evidence led to the couple. “I can’t
speculate, nor can I prejudice the case by
releasing any information now,” said Gar¬
nati. However, Garnati’s press releases im¬
ply that the case is a simple robbery, and that
the decapitation was intended to hinder
recognition of Miley. Garnati has put the
case before a grand jury and hopes to avoid
a public trial that he fears could be em¬
barrassing to law enforcement officials and
the Miley family. The grand jury process
means that little or no information will be
released to the public until after the trial’s
conclusion.
Lieutenant Smith, of the local Depart¬
ment of Criminal Investigation, refused to
say why members of the local gay communi¬
ty were questioned, or why police asked the
questions they did. “Individual in¬
vestigators followed their own initiative,
and followed standard operating
procedure,” said Smith. He refused to com¬
ment on the mutilation of Miley’s body.
Local gay activists are dismayed by the
conduct of the case. “We have here an in¬
credibly brutal incident of anti-gay
violence,” said “Tom” of GLPU, “and in¬
stead of help we get harassment. It shows
how vulnerable gays are when we’re forced
into the closet, and how anti-gay violence is
concealed and ignored by the police and the
media.”
The GLPU considered taking action on
the case but decided not to. “It’s summer,
so our resources are pretty slim [since there
are fewer students at the school],” said
“Kevin,” “and people are terrified that the
police will make your life hell if you give
them any trouble. This is what it’s like to be
gay around here.” □
Boycott
Continued from page I
4,000 people. We are very, very committed
to further research and to sharing what in¬
formation we can.”
When asked why Burroughs Wellcome
still refuses to release specific cost and profit
figures on AZT, Bartlett said the company
considers that “proprietory information.”
She explained that the pharmaceutical
business is extremely competitive and that
releasing such data could be “harmful” to
Burroughs Wellcome. Bartlett quoted the
price of AZT at $7-9,000 per year,
claiming that any further mark-up is made
by retailers. She said Burroughs Wellcome
reduced the cost of AZT by 20 percent last
December, less than a year after it was
released on the market.
According to Jim Sullivan of ACT
UP/Boston, Burroughs Wellcome had said
it would cut the price more substantially
than that after a year, when the company
would ostensibly have recouped its initial
costs. “But Burroughs Wellcome is continu¬
ing to make it the most expensive drug ever,
just to make more money,” Sullivan said.
“That’s why a lot of people are angry at
Burroughs Wellcome. This is a life and
death thing.”
The Pledge has been spreading word of
the boycott to other AIDS activists around
the country. ACT NOW, a San Francisco-
based umbrella organization of AIDS ac¬
tivist groups, helped publicize the boycott
during the national week of AIDS actions in
late April. Currently, supporters are dispen¬
sing information throughout their com¬
munities and seeking endorsers of the Bur¬
roughs Wellcome boycott. For example,
ACT UP/Boston has backed the boycott
and secured endorsements from the Greater
Boston Lesbian and Gay Political Alliance
(GBL/GPA), the All People’s Congress and
MASS ACT OUT.
“[ACT UP/Boston] is pushing the
boycott because we object to the price of
AZT, and to the fact that it’s the only show
in town,” Sullivan said. “Burroughs
Wellcome has a monopoly on AZT, and
they’re making a lot of money by exploiting
us.”
ACT UP/New York is expected to of¬
ficially endorse the boycott soon, as are
other groups around the U.S. For example,
support has come from the Gay and Lesbian
Alliance of Ohio, a Cincinnati-based
organization that coordinates political ac¬
tivism throughout the state. At a meeting in
early June, the group decided to back the
boycott to help inform people about
political issues connected with the AIDS
epidemic. “We don’t always have the same
awareness about AIDS as people on the
coasts,” said Dan Stephen of the Ohio
group, “unless you’re a person with AIDS
or ARC, or someone who has contact with
[PWAs and PWARCs].”
Stephen said the Alliance is working with
a Cincinnati PWA/PWARC organization
SHARE (Self-Help AIDS-Related Effort)
to seek endorsements of the Burroughs
Wellcome boycott from various groups, in¬
cluding lesbian/gay Democratic clubs, the
Rainbow Coalition and the National
Organization for Women (NOW). Accor¬
ding to Denison of the AIDS Action Pledge,
similar outreach is underway in other cities
across the country.
To contact the AIDS Action Pledge, call
(415) 821-9087.
Letters and calls may be directed to Bur¬
roughs Wellcome at Burroughs Wellcome
Co., 3030 Cornwallis Road, Research
Triangle Park, N.C. 27709. (919)
248-3000. □
Navarre
Continued from page 3
to promising drugs and attempts to prod the
Food and Drug Administration into approv¬
ing AIDS treatments. CRI quickly became a
model for other health initiatives springing
up around the country.
Navarre fought for PWA empowerment
in many ways. In February of this year
when Newsline' s Valentine issue was banned
from several distribution points because its
cover featured two men kissing outlined by a
bright red heart, Navarre wrote an impas¬
sioned response to homophobia and censor¬
ship: “The fact is that gay men are dying in
the thousands. The fact is that the gay com¬
munity has contributed much to relieve the
suffering of PWAs. The fact is, those of us
who are gay have come too far to closet
ourselves simply because we make someone
uncomfortable. None of this alters the fact
that women, children and IV drug users are
also living with AIDS. But I would be ap¬
palled to think that anyone would be depriv¬
ed of the valuable information in the
Newsline because they feel threatened by the
sexuality of its editor or its contributors. I
thought we were all in this together.”
Christopher Babick, executive director of
the PWA Coalition, said of Navarre:
“When the history of AIDS is written,
Max’s contribution to the self¬
empowerment movement will be without
parallel. Thousands of PWAs were deeply
touched by his candor, his humility — he
consistenly refused to be called a hero, even
though he was in some ways. Max simply
considered himself a human being and that
was it. The July 1987 issue, which some con¬
sider the best we have ever produced, was
put together by Max while he was in and out
of the emergency room. Regardless of his
health status, he was deeply committed to
enhancing the lives of PWAs.”
Donations in the name of Max Navarre
may be sent to the PWA Coalition, 263 A
West 19th Street Room 125, New York,
New York 10011.
□ filed from Boston
GAY COMMUNITY NEWS U JUNE 26-JULY 2, 1988 □ PAGE 15
INSTANT CONTACT WITH OTHER CALLERS
1-90O-999-HUNK
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PAGE 16 □ JUNE 26-JULY 2, 1988 □ GAY COMMUNITY NEWS
PERSONALS
GCN REPLY BOXES
Replies to GCN Boxes should be addressed to GCN Box
I , Gay Community News, 62 Berkeley St., Boston, MA
021 16. This applies to GCN Boxes only, not to P.O.
Boxes. Mail may be addresses to GCN Boxes for four
weeks after the issue in which it appears. _
“LONELY”
A disabled 30 year old man would love to meet & have
an affair with I or 2 gay guys in their 20s’/30s’. Call
Randy 876-8646 after 5 pm. Be discreet. _ (4)
Lesbian has contacts for Womyn, submissive foot fetish
males and possible parent donors. Your wishes fulfilled.
Free! Roberta Louis. Box 620, Mt, Sinai, NY 1 1766. (48)
Mentally handicapped WLF seeks gay man or lesbian
for long term caring relationship. Write Joanne M. 1 1 1
Church St. #230B Middletown, CT 06457. Please help
_ (1)
Hot gay male couple, 26 and 31, looking for other hot
and {.must be) hairy men for fun and adventures. Yellow
hankies a plus. You know where to find us. Gossip
queens need not apply. Hi hunny! _ (48)
BONNIE
Lacy eyelet shorts and three home runs; more frosting
on the muffin. Never a soporific moment, mop, just
jacuzzi jet streams and endless highways. S.O.D.N.
M-head. _ (48)
L college student needs financial assistance. Please help
by sending $1. Shelley P.O. Box 44-1028 West Somer-
ville, MA 02144. _ (48)
LF 32 attorney sks GM interested in becoming a father.
Would consider range of involvement but prefer active
father to share the joy and stress (and humor) of paren-
ting, GCN Box 318 _ (48)
B&B
It was so nice SEEING you on Pride Day. Now we know
who has an innie. C&S _ (48)
BAD ATTITUDE
A lesbian sex magazine. Irreverent and Hot! $10 for one
year's subscription (3 issues). B.A Inc., P.O. Box 110,
Cambridge, MA 02139. _ (16.33)
GCN’s circulation manager is looking for a volunteer to
help set up the Friday evening mailing party. Learn
about the exciting world of newspaper circulations and
meet the fabulous Friday staff and volunteers. Please
call Chris at GCN, 426-4469.
ANNOUNCEMENTS
LESBIAN/GAY TEENS
New support group forming for self-help and discussion.
Weekly meetings facilitated by trained volunteer. Find
strength and pride in being who you are. Free of charge, call
Project Place 262-3740. _ (49)
Lavender Veterans for Peace
Lavender Veterans for Peace is a national organization for
gay/lesbian/bisexual military veterans and supporters, for the
purposes of educating, networking and identifying ourselves;
to be informed of issues that affect us; and to join in solidarity
with people of peace around the world. F.M.I. or to be placed
on the L.V.P. mailing list, contact: Lavender Veterans for
Peace. 650 Shrader St„ San Francisco, Calif. 941 17 (1)
ANNOUNCEMENTS
Student needs tuition money. Please send money to P.O. Box
2646 Center St, J.P., Boston MA 02130. Thank you. (48)
HARVARD UNION DYKES
I want to rap and maybe form an affinity group about being
more vocal at Harvard — and the rest of our world! Mary
492-4615. _ (48)
BATTERED LESBIANS
Ongoing support grtxip for lesbians currently or formerly ex¬
periencing physical, emotional or sexual abuse by a womyn
partner. Call HAWC 744-6841 for info and support. _ (3)
DYKES, DISABILITY AND STUFF
Contributions sought for this start-up networking newsletter
that wishes to provide fiction, art, poetry, comics, news,
views, and reviews, arts, letters, verse and controversy, ideas,
resources and friendship possibilities. Still in the formative
stages, we have national and international aspirations to net¬
work among women with an interest in health, ability, visibili¬
ty and disability (yes, hidden ones, too!). How about an ASL
interpreted, wheel-chair user accessible, special needs
welcome! conference for US in 1990? Get on the mailing list...
send contributions of writings, articles, news, money etc to:
UPE, PO Box 6194, Boston, MA 021 146194. _ (49)
COME SPEND
AN OVERNIGHT
AT
ROSIE’S PLACE
Rosie’s is a drop-in center and
emergency shelter for homeless
women. Rosie’s needs you to
help create a quiet and peaceful
overnight space. Volunteer once
a month or more through the
summer. Call Tamsin at
442-9322.
MASS BAY COUNSELING ASSOC
INDIVIDUALS, COUPLES
AND GROUP COUNSELING
INSURANCE ACCEPTED
( 617) 739-7832
COPLEY SQUARE
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•All ads must be prepaid.
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•Clip and return this form to:
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SERVICES
Double your closet space!
Let California Closet Company
maximize your closet potential!
Call for free consultation and
estimate in your home.
Kathleen Walker 524-2401.
Charis Video
The Lesbian Video Resource.
Discount prices. Free catalog.
P.O. Box 797, Dept. GCN,
Brooklyn, NY 11231
BACK BAY COUNSELING SERVICES
DENNIS IADAROLA
Serving the Community Since 1974
Insurance Accepted
739-7860
PERSONAL HEALTH
•General Medical Care ‘Sports Medicine
•Diagnosis and Treatment of Disease
Private Medical Office - Confidential
ROBERT TAYLOR, MD
1755 Beacon Street, Brookline 232-1459.
COUNSELING
FOR WOMEN
Individual, Couple
and Group
Counseling
Call 247-4861
Sliding Scale Fee
Health Insurance
Accepted
520 Commonwealth Avenue
Kenmore Square
The Law Offices of
David R. Lund
& Associates,
P.C.
David R. Lund,
3arbara Macy, There.se A. Young
Boston
(617) 266-0760
Arthur’s Cleaning Service
I DO WINDOWS TOO!
1-295-6340
QUALITY WORK
GOOD RATES
Commercial & Residential
REFERENCES AVAILABLE
WEEKLY, BI-WEEKLY, &
" MONTH LY
HELP WANTED
PERSONAL CARE
Part-time personal care assistant needed for weekend
mornings two times per month. Jamaica Plain area.
$7. 10/hour, no taxes. Call 232-5956. _ (2)
Lesbian Community Project seek Executive Director.
Responsible for overall management volunteer coor¬
dination, staff support for projects, committees, board,
coalition building. Must be able to support LCP’s com¬
mitment to diversity. Resume and cover letter by July
22nd to PO Box 5931 Portland OR 97229. For more info
call (503) 233-9079 _ (49)
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
NATIONAL PROGRESSIVE LEGAL/EDUCATIONAL
ORGANIZATION
Must be dedicated to broad range of progressive public
interest issues with experience in social change
movements. Should have effective managerial, fund¬
raising, interpersonal skills, and good writing, public
speaking abilities. Travel, long hours necessary. Legal
training not required. Salary negotiable with excellent
benefits. Equal opportunity employer; women, people
of color, lesbians/gays urged to apply. Send resume,
cover letter or written inquiries by August 1 to Search
Committee, Center for Constitutional Rights, 666
Broadway, New York, NY 10012. _ (48)
LIVE-IN OR PART-TIME
Personal Care Attendants to assist female professional
disabled activist and friendly cat in JP. No experience
necessary but must have a driver’s license. Live-in gets
free rent plus $225/wk. Weekends $160. 5-10pm
$177/wk. Call 731-6228. _ (7)
Carpenter
needs experience, vehicle
Please call (617)893-5871
CLASSIFIEDS
HELP WANTED
Management/ Finance
Opening for Loan Officer at
non-profit lending institution
that lends to worker-owner
businesses. Applicants should
have MBA or equivalent and2
years ’ lending experience.
Write by July 8th , ICA/RLF,
58 Day Street, Suite 200,
Somerville, MA 02144. EOE.
a FENWAY
COMMUNITY
FfEALTH CENTER
•Progressive, dynamic environment
•Competative salaries and
excellent benefits
•Innovative HIV education and
treatment programs
NURSE PRACTITIONER
Minority Community
Challenging full time position for
NP interested in general medicine
and HIV-related illnesses, to work
in innovative HIV treatment pro¬
gram plus care for diverse client
population. Will be based at
Boston City Hospital. Experience
preferred, enthusiasm required.
LABORATORY
SUPERVISOR
Full time position in small, active,
limited license lab in FCHC clinic.
NURSE
PRACTITIONER
Challenging full time position for
NP interested in general medicine
and HIV-related illnesses, to work
in innovative HIV treatment pro¬
gram, plus care for diverse client
population. Will be based at Fen¬
way Community Health Center.
Experience preferred, enthusiasm
required.
P/T UNIT
COORDINATOR
2 evenings per week and Satur¬
days, working at front desk at
clinic.
BILLING CLERK
Involves data entry, cor¬
respondence and telephone com¬
munication.
Fenway Community Health Center
is an equal opportunity employer.
People of color are encouraged to
apply.
Resumes to: Personnel
Fenway Community Health Center
16 Haviland Street
Boston, MA 02115
ROOMMATE WANTED
2LFs 26 and 32 plus cat seek 1 LF or BiF for beautiful
apt. in Arlington close to Cambridge line, walk to T and
Spy Pond for summer sublet or longer. Rent $300-$350.
Call 623-0310. No pets, _ (45)
SOMERVILLE
LF 41 and 2 cats seeks mature, resp. W to share lovely
spacious apt. between Porter and Davis T. No smokers
no more pets. Rent $300 plus util. Avail July 1.
625-4298. _ (48)
3rd LF 27 plus wanted to share spacious sunny 2-FL
house on quiet street near Davis T. Friendly, indepen¬
dent, share food shopping. W/D, sunporch, patio.
Avail. 9/1. Sorry no smoke/pets, minimal
drugs/alcohol $270 plus. 776-8405. _ (48)
LF 32 sks LF 28 plus to share home in Roslindale
bordering arboretum. Must be good humored, res pons.,
like animals. Short term OK 325-5951 leave message. (48)
GAY COMMUNITY NEWS □ JUNE 26-JULY 2, 1988 □ PAGE 17
CLASSIFIEDS
ROOMMATE WANTED
TRY GCN’S
GUARANTEED
ROOMMATE
AD
□
GCN’s “Guaranteed
Roommate” offer:
ALL ROOMMATE AND
HOUSEMATE ADS THAT
ARE PREPAID FOR TWO
WEEKS WE WILL RUN
UNTIL YOU FIND A
ROOMMATE
□
Ads will not be automatically
renewed. You must call in every
additional week you want the ad
to run. Phone calls will be
accepted all day Mondays and
Tuesdays until noon. 426-4469.
APARTMENTS
AFT FOR RENT
4 plus rooms, pets ok, yard, small woodstove, ceiling fan, nice
view, pkg, near T, LF owners, avail, end of June, 550plus,
Malden, 3246822. _ (47)
SUMMER RENTALS
MORE FABULOUS THAN FABULOUS
Provincetown, Beach Point — Large modern studio
w/loft, kitchenette fully furnished, cable tv, sleeps four.
Private patio, heated pool and parking, beach access!
$400.00/week or $3000/season. For more information
call John, i -487-41 10 or Brenda, 576-1960. _ (1)
PROVINCETOWN
Summer rental, fully-equipped 2 bedroom condo with
water view. Located in quiet East End. Walk out front
to Bay Beach and 1 mile walk to downtown. Has own
parking. Rent by week or month. For particulars call
(617)447-4922. _ (48)
SAXONY HOUSE SECTIONAL
From the Singapore Collection. Steel reinforced wicker
with pewter textured cushions. Excellent condition.
Must sell, grad student. Retail $2875, will sell $1499.
Call Jan at (603) 887-5998 or (617) 334-3458. _ (2)
BETWEEN BU t BC
Male, 26 seeks roommate to share 2BR near Washington
& Commonwealth. 4 min to T, 12 min to YMCA. No
tobacco. $400, available 8/1. Call Robert at 787-9199.
(49) _
2GM’s seek mature/resp. GM or LF to share huge apt.
in Brigham Circle area. Near T, off-st. parking, W/D,
DW. $300 plus. Avail. 7/1. Call 734-0046 and leave
message. _ (49)
Woman wanted to share Central Square apartment with
three others. $200 monthly, available now or July.
Located two blocks from MBTA. Please call 547-8647.
(49) _
Wanted: responsible nonsmoker to share 4BR apt in
Central Square. $225 includes heat, hot water. Available
7/1 . No pets. Call lan Peter at 492-0237. _ (48)
LF 38, 10 Y.O. son, and pet rabbit seek LF to share sun¬
ny, spacious, beautiful apt. in Somerville. You get 1 Vi
rooms — $410 plus non-smoker. Call Laura —
625-6468. _ (49)
LF 27 seeks LF or GM for lge 2 BR apt in Roslindale.
Must like cats. 325 4 call 325-1916 days Ive msge. (48)
3LFs seek 4th for our semi-veg, semi-coop home near
Davis Square with garden and sunny porches. No pets or
cigarettes. Rent $325 (negotiable) Call 776-0303. (48)
JAMAICA PLAIN
Two women looking for one or two lesbians to share
spacious apartment in J.P. Convenient to T. $237.00
p-lus. Available immediately. Call Kati or Marcie.
983-0599. _ (48)
CAMBRIDGEPORT APT
Seeking 2 LFS (non-heterophobic) to share 4 bd, 2nd
and 3rd fl apt off Magazine St. Semi-coop, progressive
politics, independent yet supportive household. 280
plus. Wendy 1 -28 1 -6056 or 547-225 1 . _ (48)
SHARE SOMERVILLE HOUSE
LF 33 seeks LF30plus to share Teele Sq. House. Quiet,
responsible non-smoker, no pets, you’ll have 3 rooms
and share liv, din, kit, bath. $500 plus. Avail immediate-
ly. Call before 9pm 628-7487, _ (48)
JLF and 2 cats seek 2 roommated for vegetarian, collec¬
tive 3 BR JP apt. Fireplace, w/d, LR, DR, yard, porch.
No smoking. $400 hid. Rent control. Anne 492-2606.
(48) _
Room for rent in quiet, renov. 3 bdrm apt in Soml near
T’s. On-st. parking, storage, porches, yard. No pets.
Now, 625-8573 leave message. _ (48)
Cleveland Circle scruffy basement apartment needs
roommates starting June and August 1. Friendly, in¬
dependent, considerate, respect privacy. Near 3 Green
Lines. NO NEATN1KS! $225 and 216 including heat.
Leave message for Naomi 739-6566. _ (48)
QUIET - CHEAP
Gay male seeks QUIET roommate for small “2
bedroom” in Fenway. $210 plus
util. Call Mike at GCN 426-4469 _ (2)
Two LFs seeking two LFs 25 plus to share beautiful J.P.
apt. Progressive politics, food, w/d. Avail, immed. or
Aug. near Pond, arboretum, T. No smoking $192.50
plus. Call 524-6209. _ (49)
HOUSING WANTED
LF 25 and fun dog seek home near T with lesbians for July
1st. Non-smoker, minimal alcohol. Up to $300/month. Call
Debbie at 739-1568. _ (48)
LF grad student 32 quiet responsible seeking private rooms in
prof LF/GM mixed house in Worcester/area. Non-smoking
veg chem-frce environment. Need 8/15/88 latest. Reply GCN
Box 319. _ (4)
LOOKING FOR A HOME
LF 32 seeks cooperative household with LFs or mixed
Gay/Straight. Share progressive politics, food, chores, meals.
For Aug. 15 or Sept. 1. JP or Camb. Call Mary Ann
524-6209. _ (48)
APARTMENTS
Dorchester, Ashmont Hill Victorian, two bedrooms, deck,
fireplace, built-in bookcases, exceptional apartment. $750 plus
utilities. 282-1 174 or 925-3168. _ (48)
RESIDENT WOMEN OWNERS, MATT AP AN
Spacious two bedroom on busline. Plenty on-street parking
hard wood floors. Living, kitchen, bath. 2nd floor of 3 family
home. Heat and hot water included. S700/mo. (617) 298-3989.
(48)
CH1LTERN
MOUNTAIN CLUB
An outdoor recreational club
sponsored by New England area
lesbians and gay men. For further
information, please write.
P.O. Box 407g Boston, MA
Michael Our 10th Year Anniversary
787-0428
Kitty
282-6437
PUBLICATIONS
BISEXUALITY
A national newsletter. For info & sample, send SASE to
P.O. Box 20917, Long Beach, CA 90801-3917. (4)
BLACKIOUT
The new quarterly magazine from the National coalition
of Black Lesbians and Gays, features news, views,
reviews, poetry, short fiction and announcements of in¬
terest to the national Black Lesbian and Gay communi¬
ty. Sample copy, $4, 1 yr. subscription, (4 issues) $10.
To: Black/Out:, NCBLG, P.O. Box 2490, Washington,
DC 20013. _ (ex)
LESBIAN CONTRADICTION
A Journal of Irreverent Feminism. Quarterly of com¬
mentary, analysis, reviews, cartoons & humor by and
for women who agree to disagree-who are still political,
but not necessarily correct. Sample $1.50; sub $6; more
if/less if. LesCon, 584 Castro, #263G, SF, CA 94114.
_ (16.-)
Community Jobs
The only nationwide listing of socially conscious job op¬
portunities — organizing, women’s issues, health care,
peace/justice, more. $12/year. CJ, Box G, 1516 P
Street, Washington, DC 20005. _ (Ex)
BAD ATTITUDE
A lesbian sex magazine. Irreverent and Hot! $10 for one
year’s subscription (3 issues). B.A. Inc., P.O. Box 110,
Cambridge, MA 02139. (16.33)
MOVERS
POOR PEOPLES MOVERS
new & used boxes delivered
packing and storing
- _
THE JIM CLARK MOVING COMPANY
Serving the Gay Community
with professionalism and respect
Very careful furniture movers.
Piano and hoisting specialists.
Any time of the day-any day of the year.
No overtime charges, 354-2184
_ MPDU Number 23733, _ ,
APPLETON MOVING CO., INC.
(formerly, Boston Trucking Co.)
MA DPU #25522
No job too big or too small
Very careful movers 641-1234
From $18 / hr.
MAXI-VANS
CARGO MASTER TRUCKS
• HOMES • BUSINESSES
> 24 HOUR DELIVERY
■ LIC. and INS.
236-1848
GREENHOPE FARM
Secluded Mountain Setting in Vermont. Lesbian owned
and operated. Horseback riding and lessons. Nearby
waterfall and canoeing, auctions, fairs. Cool nights,
campfires. (802) 533-7772 for brochure. _ (3)
BLUEBERRY COVE
Alternative coastal vacation cabins, camping, boats,
veggy/fish workshops. For brochure write Blueberry
Cove, HCR35 Box 520, Tenants Harbour ME 04860.
(207) 372-6353. _ (1)
DISCOVER NEW ENGLAND’S GAY INN
Spend long, lazy days by the pool and cool nights by a
crackling fire or in our hot tub. Our 100 acre mountain
setting offers peace, privacy, beautiful views, spec¬
tacular sunsets and lovely paths for walking hand-in-
hand. Great hiking, reduced rate golf, tennis, antiquing
and summer theater nearby. The Highlands Inn, PO
Box 1 18G, Bethlehem, NH 03574. (603) 869-3978. Grace
and Judi, Inkeepers. _ (16.7)
ORGANIZATIONS
BAYLOR ALUMS:
Still wondering if that guy in Roland/girl in Collins is
one of us? Let’s organize and find out. Write in con¬
fidence. Steve T., 1341 Ocean Ave., #206, Santa
Monica, Calif. 90401 _ (48)
JEWISH LESBIAN DAUGHTERS
OF HOLOCAUST SURVIVORS
We meet for support & networking and welcome con¬
tact from other Jewish Lesbian Daughters of Holocaust
Survivors. The next meeting is scheduled for April 22nd-
24th, in upstate New Hampshire, and semi-annually
thereafter. A partners group has also been formed for
lesbian women who are in relationship with JLDHS.
Membership is not dependent on both partners. For in¬
formation, write Box 6194, Boston, MA 02114 or call
(617)321-4254, _ (15.49)
OLDER LESBIAN ENERGY
Social and support group for women over 40. P.O. Box
1214, East Arlington, MA 02174. _ (15.48)
BLACK AND WHITE MEN TOGETHER
Multiracial group for all people . Call (415) 431-1976 or
write BWMT, suite 140, 580 Castro St. SF, CA, 94114.
_ _ (16.1)
BOSTON ALLIANCE OF GAY AND LESBIAN YOUTH
Social support group for youth 22 and under. Wed.
night general meeting from 7:30-9pm. New persons
meeting at 6:00. Women’s meeting at 6:45. Call
482-7858 for info. (15.32)
PUBLICATIONS
GUARDI AN: Independent radical newsweekly. Covers
Gay, women and minority struggles and international
progressive movements. Special offer-4 issues FREE. Write
Guardian. Dept GCN, 33W 17th St. NY, NY.I00I I _ (ex)
off our backs
Celebrating 15 years of radical feminist journalism. We
bring feminist national/international news analysis and
reviews each month. $11 year, 11 issues. ($15 for con¬
tributing subs) $20 institutional fee. Sample-$3 for 3
issues! Write ‘off our backs’ Dept GCN, 1841 Columbia
Rd. NW, Room 212 Washington. DC 20009. _ (ex)
OUTRAGEOUS WOMEN
National journal of woman-to-woman S/M. Diverse
feminist quarterly of S/M fact, fiction and photos.
$1 1/yr. Single issues $3. Must state you are over 18.
SASE for info. PO Box 23, Somerville MA 02143. (ex)
WOMAN OF POWER: “A Magazine of Feminism,
Spirituality, and Politics,” an inspiring international
quarterly publication. Subscriptions $22 for 4 issues;
singles issues $6 plus $1 postage. P.O. Box 827, Cam-
bridge, MA 02238, telephone (617) 625-7885. _ (ex)
ON OUR BACKS, the sexual entertainment magazine for
lesbians, is 48 pages of erotic fiction, features, plus time¬
ly sexual advice and news colums. We are quarterly, na¬
tional, unique and provacative. $15/yr sub or $5 current
issue to: On Our Backs, PO Box 421916, San Francisco,
CA 94142. _ (ex)
PAGE 18 □ JUNE 26-JULY 2, 1988 □ GAY COMMUNITY NEWS
risoners
Seeking
Friends
TO ALL THOSE, IN & OUT OF PRISON,
WHO FIGHT AGAINST THEIR BONDAGE.
Alexander Berkman, Prison Memoirs of an Anarchist
Cancer is my sign and I’d like to correspond
with someone that’s intelligent and likes to have
fun. I enjoy reading what’s happening in the
gay world. I prefer to write to women. Cynthia
ELLMAN, Box 180 — 7950, Muncy PA 17756.
I am a 34 yr old Butch Dyke seeking a soft,
sexy, playful Femme who will help brighten my
day! 1 am HOT, kinky, oversexed and
underloved. Isn’t there a lady out there to tame
me? Come on ladies, make my day! Judy
WALLACE, 03431-030, 3301 Leestown Rd,
Lexington KY 405 1 1 .
RIGHTS OF PRISONERS-FREE!!
Once again, the ACLU has FREE copies of
the Rights of Prisoners available for
prisoners. Write to: ACLU, 132 W.43rd,
>w York, NY 10036.
Tips from prisoners
(Check them out and let us hear how it goes!)
*NOLO NEWS, 950 Parker St., Berkeley CA
94710 — a legal self-help newspaper. One free
copy available.
‘FTUENDS OUTSIDE, 2701 Folsom St, San
Francisco CA 94110 (job leads for ex-cons)
‘California Rural Legal Assistance. 2111 Mis¬
sion St, San Francisco CA 94110 (how to get
food stamps and welfare support in Cal.)
EXERCISES
A GCN Prisoner Project memeber (Tiyo) has
put together a great pamphlet on excercising
,no machinery needed). If you want one (FREE),
just write.
CALLING ALL GENTLEMEN
OF OHIO (prisons)!
We ladies in Local Control (LC) do not have
hot water and we’re also deprived of a lot of
other rights. Could you fellows from Marion,
Lima, Lebanon, Madison, London, Chillicothe
and other Ohio prisons please write us ladies &
tell us what rights we should have in LC, SC
and DC, where we cannot even have envelopes,
real smokes or dessert. Thanks kindly, Sonya
Clark, 1479 Collins Ave (Arn-4), Marysville
OH 43040.
I If space permits in the GCN (to which you have
[given me a most appreciated sub, and which I
j esteem of great value to my sanity) would you
■ place a penpal ad for me to the effect of: Share
I thoughts, feelings with caring, very open-
j minded gay man. All answered. E. (Rusty)
[POTIRIADES, Box 48146, 2605 State St,
! Salem OR 97310. _
ST. LOUIS — HELP!!!
I will be going to St. Louis next month (JULY)
to a halfway nouse. I have to get a job within a
few weeks after I get there or they will send me
back here. Could you please send me some ad¬
dresses of gay men or sympathetic people who
own businesses that could give me a job? I’m so
B scared I won’t make it, please help me. Ron
■ DERECSKY, 39140, Rt 2 Box 176, Tipton MO
“65081
Gay male, 28, Swedish-German-Indian descent,
sense of humor, diverse interests, cerebral, ar¬
ticulate, avid reader, perceptive, quite pas¬
sionate and sensual. Incurable romantic.
WANTED: Contact with kindred spirit in¬
terested in establishing friendship. Gender, age,
race, looks irrelevant. Mark GANT, 191-171,
Box 45699, Lucasville OH 45699.
My name is ‘Tammy’. I’m 27 and I like reading,
chess and jogging. I’d like to correspond with
someone for friendship. Thank you. T.L.
KENT, C-28469, C-facility, PO Box 29,
Represa CA 95671,
I got my sample issue of GCN today and I’ve
read it 3 times already. Thank you! I’m trying
to get my fill before passing it on to friends
here. Some of them are scared about being open
so I hope the paper will help them get in touch
with the outside and still not reveal themselves
too much. I’d like to placdaii ad in your Friends
column. Gay male looking for others for
friends. Some prisoners just need a little affec¬
tion and understanding to get their lives
straightened out. Anyway, thank you. John W.
SNYDER, K-9211, Box 200, Camp Hill PA
17011.
Gay male, 43, 6’4”, 200 lbs, seeks effeminate-
type guy for penpal relationship. Interests:
photography, film and TV, acting and F.I.
(drag) show. Eugene BR1CKER, D69476, Box
8101 Rm 8382, San Luis Obispo CA 93409
Bi-sex, drag queen in prison would like to write
gay men. Interests: books, music, movies, oc¬
cultism. Pic 4 pic. Mark A. BROWN, 45222,
Box 900, Jefferson City MO 65102.
Slave, into anything that the master desires,
from fisting to golden showers. My hobbies are
reading poetry and porno. Would like to hear
from a master in the free world. All letters
answered promptly. Ansul COLE, 453193, Rt 2
Box 20, Ferguson E-3-1, Midway TX 75852.
Getting out in Aug/Sept. Would like to meet
some people on the outside. Like to travel,
swim, roller skate, and meet people. Richard T.
STEADMAN, 135277, Box 500; Boydton VA
23917 _
I didn’t get any response from my last ad. I
think this AIDS has everyone on hold about
making new relationships, in or out of prison.
Even in here it’s hard to find anyone interested
in a one-on-one long time relationship, unless
there’s money involved, and I never have or will
pay for friendship. 1 would like to try again.
Charles T. VIDAL, C-21241, Box 8101
2208 X, San Luis Obis|x> CA 93409.
Outgoing, sincere, friendly, personable GM
wishes to correspond with others, in or out, to
expand my horizons by sharing thoughts and
general talk with others. Enjoy reading love
stories, music, lots of other stuff. Robert
THOMAS, 347317, Rt 2 Box 20, Midway TX
75852.
Lonely, light skin, good health, wish sincere
honest correspondence with people who are for
real and have a heart of love. Know games.
Please lets be for real. Marvin SMITH, 82B
2339, C -27-17, Box 149, Attica NY 14011.
Gay male prisoner, 35, in need of help in
developing a parole plan, i.e. a job and place of
residence. I’ve no preference as to location. My
interests include but are not limited to cooking,
fishing, helping people, wildlife, psychology,
safe sex and friendship. I’ve been denied parole
for several years now due to lack of a parole
plan. Please send any information you can.
Thank you. Delbert HIGHMAN, 20883, Box 2,
Lansing KS 66043.
I’m Black and Hispanic, semi-bronze skin,
average built, will try anything once or twice.
I’m gullable but intelligent, all outgoing, love
children and animals. Marvin THOMAS, 85B
1673, PO Box 180, Lock 11 Rd, Comstock NY
12821.
I love to walk in the woods and make love. I do
know how to cook and bake and keep house.
Country music and oldies are my kind of music.
I also like to write long dirty letters. Picture gets
mine. Robert LEE, 86C-0766, Box 367-A, Dan-
nemora NY 12929.
I’m a NY state prisoner who has undergone
transsexual hormone treatment for the last 2'/i
years. I am well acquainted with the hardships
of coming out as a TS, especially in an all-male
prison where machoism rules. I read the letter
of Ms. Christina DEBOSCO from Buffalo in an
earlier issue of GCN and would very much like
to correspond with her or other TRANSSEX¬
UALS who’d like to write. T. BELKNAP,
79C-491 , Box 149, Attica NY 14011.
30 June □ Don’t miss
Too Little, Too Late,
Micki Dickoffs (pictured
right in a production
photo) moving documen¬
tary about the families of
PWAs. On WCBV Chan¬
nel 5, 1 0pm.
Please note: Calendar listings must be received by the
Monday before the week of the event. Photos with listings
are encouraged.
25 Saturday
Boston □ Living With AIDS Theatre Project
workshop to collect the stories of those connected in any
way with the AIDS crisis, every Saturday. The goal is to
create a theater music piece. No performance experience
necessary. Club Cabaret, 209 Columbus Ave. 10:30am.
Boston □ Boston Bisexual Men’s and Women’s Net¬
works Dim Sum brunch in Chinatown. Meet at the
small park next to the Chinatown Arch at the comer of
Beach and Hudson Sts. 10:45am. Info: 247-6683.
Brookline □ Am Tikva Shabbat morning service.
Temple Israel, 260 The Riverway. 10:30am. Info:
782-8894.
Cambridge □ “Body Language”: a benefit for
“Throwing Our Weight Around," a fat-positive
documentary about the lives of fat women. Readings by
Cathy Johnson, Susan Stinson, Judith Stein; excerpt of the
video will be shown. Women only. No perfume.
Wheelchair accessible. YWCA, 7 Temple St. 8pm. $5.
Boston □ Virginia a play by Edna O’Brien based on the
life of Virginia Woolf. Lyric Stage, 54 Charles St. $13.
8pm. Info: 742-8703.
Newton □ Seven Sister College Lesbian Alumnae
Network holds potluck barbecue. 6pm. $5. Info:
332-7292.
26 Sunday
Boston □ Boston's Other Voice hosts Brian
McNaught and two other representatives of AIDS
organizations on the North Shore. WROR 98.5FM.
1 1 :30pm.
Boston □ Rock Against Sexism gives a special Anti-
Censorship Benefit disc party/tea dance. Proceeds go to
the No More Censorship Defense Fund. 21 or older.
1270 Club, 1270 Boylston St. 6- 1 0pm. $1 before 7pm, $2
thereafter. Info: Stuart 445-4389.
Boston □ Boston Unitarian Universalist Gays and
Lesbians service: “Freedom Song." Arlington St.
Church. 7pm. Info: Jay, 232-5189.
Roxbury □ Memorial service for Bob Duffy, 1st
Church in Roxbury. Putnam, Centre and Dudley Street T
stop. 3pm.
Boston □ Metro Healing for PWAs and supporters.
Every Sun. Metropolitan Health Club, 209 Columbus Ave.
7:30pm. Info: Brian, 267-1154 or Joseph, 357-6926.
27 Monday
Cambridge □ Lesbian Rap topic: "Lesbian
Creativity.” The Women's Center, 46 Pleasant St.
8-IOpm. Free. Info: 354-8807 (TTY/voke).
28 T uesday
Cambridge □ Sandlin Women’s School of Karate
and Seif-Defense. Every Tues. and Th. 6-8pm. YWCA, 7
Temple St Info: 577-9514.
Boston □ “Gay Bashing”. Showing of a workshop
presented at this year's Mayor's conference on Human
Rights. Boston Cable, ch. A-22. 9pm. Also showing 6/30,
7/19, 7/21.
29 Wednesday
Cambridge □ Lesbian Al-Anon Women’s Center, 46
Pleasant. 6:30-8pm. Childcare. Info: 354-8807.
Cambridge □ Old Lesbians with Buffy Dunker and
Marcy Adelman, editor of Long Time Passing. "Say it,
Sister!" WMBR 88.1-FM 7-8pm.
Boston □ Looking Back: 1978 — Our Struggles
Revisited A Gay and Lesbian Advocates and Defenders
(GLAD) forum on sex rings, entrapment, Anita Bryant
and the formation of GLAD. U-Mass., 250 Stuart St.
7:30pm. Info: 426-1350.
I Friday
Boston □ GCN Mailing. Come help stuff the paper and
meet new friends. 5- 1 0pm. 62 Berkeley St, near Arlington
and Back Bay T-stops. Info: GCN, 426-4469.
Boston □ On-going healing group for PWAs and sup¬
porters. Every Fri. Santa Fe Hair Salon, 528 Tremont.
7:30pm. Info: Brian, 267-1154 or Joseph, 357-6926.
Worcester □ AIDS Project-Worcester support
group for HIV-positive, PWAs/PWARCs and supporters.
Open to all lesbians and gay men. 51 Jackson St. 7pm. In¬
fo: Dana, 755-3773.
Cambridge □ Women’s Coffeehouse. Open folk
music jam. Women's Center, 46 Pleasant. 8pm-midnight.
Free, donations welcome. Info: 354-8807.
29 Wednesday □ Buffy Dunker (above) on “Say it, Sister!”
along with Marcy Adelman, editor of Long Time Passing.
WMBR 88.1 FM, 7-8pm.
30 Thursday
Boston □ GCN's Production Night. All welcome.
Proofreading starts at 5pm. Paste-up after 7pm. 62 Berkeley
St., near Arlington and Back Bay T-stops. Info: GCN,
4264469.
Boston □ WCBV Channel 5 presents local filmmaker
Micki Dickoff's award-winning documentary Too Little,
Too Late as part of a two-hour broadcast devoted to
AIDS. "Fighting for Life: The War Against AIDS" will be
shown at 9pm, “Too Little, Too Late" follows at 10pm.
Boston □ Fenway Public forum on AIDS research
studies. Rabb Lecture Hall, Boston Public Library,
Boylston and Exeter Sts. 6:30pm. Free. Info: 267-7573.
3 Sunday
Boston □ Boston’s Other Voice hosts comedian Dan¬
ny Williams. WROR 98.5 FM. 1 1:30pm.
5 T uesday
Cambridge □ Former nun lesbian support group.
Women's Center, 46 Pleasant. 7pm. Info: 354-8807.
Boston □ “Constitutional Protection of Civil
Rights. ’’Showing of a forum given at this year's Mayor's
Conference on Human Rights. Boston Cable, ch. A-22.
9pm. Also showing 7/7, 7/26, 7/28.
6 Wednesday
Cambridge □ Politics of Fat discussion group. Topic:
Food as a feminist issue. Women’s Center. 46 Pleasant.
7:30pm. Info: 354-8807.
7 Thursday
Boston □ GCN's Production Night. All welcome.
Proofreading starts at 5pm. Paste-up after 7pm. 62 Berkeley
St. Arlington and Back Bay T-stops. Info: GCN,
426-4469.
Cambridge □ Open discussion for incest survivors.
Women’s Center. 46 Pleasant St. 7:30pm. Info: 354-8807.
8 Friday
Boston □ GCN Mailing. Come help stuff the paper and
meet new friends. 5- 1 0pm. 62 Berkeley. Back Bay and Arl¬
ington T-stops. Info: GCN, 426-4469.
Medford □ Lesbian workers and legal workers
meeting. 7pm. Free. New members welcome. Info:
Carol, 483-3685.
Cambridge □ Sue Kranz., folk singer/songwriter per¬
forms. Women’s Center. 46 Pleasant. 8-12 midnight.
Free, donations welcome. Info: 354-8807.
Brookline □ Am Tikva Shabbat Service.
Workmen's Circle, 1762 Beacon St. 8pm.
10 Sunday
Brookline □ Allston, Brighton, Brookline lesbian
potluck. Amory Park. 5pm. In case of rain, meet at
Edibles. Info: 787-1433.
Boston □ Downtown lesbian neighborhood
brunch. New group forming for lesbians living in
downtown, Back Bay and South End. Info: Joan,
266-5169.
1 1 Monday
Cambridge □ Lesbian rap on "Trusting your Intui¬
tion." Women’s Center. 46 Pleasant. 8pm. Info:
354-8807.
Boston □ Economic Equity Task Force meeting of
Boston NOW. NOW office, 971 Comm. Ave. 7pm. Info:
782-1056.
1 2 T uesday
Boston □ Reproductive Rights Task Force meeting
of Boston NOW. NOW office, 971 Comm. Ave. 7pm.
Info: 782-1056.
Boston □ “Community Race Relations.” Showing
of a workshop given at this year’s Mayor’s Conference on
Human Rights. Boston Cable, ch.A-22. 9pm. Also show¬
ing 7/14.
1 3 Wednesday
Boston □ Lesbian Rights Task Force meeting of
Boston NOW. NOW office, 971 Comm. Ave. 7pm. Info:
782-1056.
Cambridge □ Lesbian Al-Anon. Women’s Center,
46 Pleasant. 6:30pm. Childcare. Info: 354-8807.
Cambridge □ Partners of incest survivors meeting.
Women’s Center, 46 Pleasant. 8:15pm. Info: 354-8807.
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